scholarly journals Directly ageing the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus with validated band counts from gastric mill ossicles

2018 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 442-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaya Gnanalingam ◽  
Mark J Butler ◽  
Thomas R Matthews ◽  
Emily Hutchinson ◽  
Raouf Kilada
Keyword(s):  
Spiny Lobster ◽  
Age Determination ◽  
Florida Keys ◽  
Panulirus Argus ◽  
Gastric Mill ◽  
Coefficients Of Variation ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
First Time ◽  
Reader Experience

Abstract In crustaceans, ecdysis was long believed to result in the loss and replacement of all calcified structures, precluding the use of conventional ageing methods. However, the discovery of bands in the gastric ossicles of several crustaceans with some correlation with age suggests that direct age estimation may be possible. We applied this method to a tropical spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, one of the most iconic and economically valuable species in the Caribbean. The presence of growth bands was investigated using wild lobsters of unknown age and was validated with captive reared lobsters of known age (1.5–10 years) from the Florida Keys, Florida (USA). Bands were consistently identified in ptero- and zygo-cardiac ossicles of the gastric mill and did not appear to be associated with moulting. Validation with known age animals confirms that bands form annually. Counts between independent readers were reproducible with coefficients of variation ranging from 11% to 26% depending on reader experience and the structure used. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that direct age determination of P. argus is possible.

scholarly journals First record of Carcinonemertes conanobrieni Simpson, Ambrosio & Baeza, 2017 (Nemertea, Carcinonemertidae), an egg predator of the Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804), on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia

Check List ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 425-429
Author(s):  
Jaime A. Gonzalez-Cueto ◽  
Sigmer Quiroga
Keyword(s):  
New Record ◽  
Spiny Lobster ◽  
Florida Keys ◽  
First Record ◽  
Panulirus Argus ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Caribbean Coast ◽  
Egg Predator ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
First Time

Carcinonemertes conanobrieni Simpson, Ambrosio & Baeza, 2017, an egg predator of the spiny lobster Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804), is recorded for the first time in Colombian waters and the Caribbean. Worms were isolated from an egg mass of a lobster caught at the Gulf of Salamanca, Magdalena. Little is known about the distribution of this species and currently this record from the Caribbean Coast of Colombia is the only one outside of the Florida Keys, USA. The new record suggests that this parasite might be present in the entire Caribbean Sea. 

PaV1 infection in the Florida spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) fishery and its effects on trap function and disease transmission

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald C. Behringer ◽  
Mark J. Butler ◽  
Jessica Moss ◽  
Jeffrey D. Shields
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Spiny Lobster ◽  
Florida Keys ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Panulirus Argus ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
Pathogenic Virus ◽  
Lobster Fishery ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Polymerase Chain

The Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) supports the most economically valuable fishery in the Caribbean. In Florida, USA, the majority of the catch is landed in traps “baited” with live, sublegal-sized lobsters that attract other lobsters due to their social nature. This species is also commonly infected by the pathogenic virus Panulirus argus Virus 1 (PaV1). Here we describe a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based assessment of the prevalence of PaV1 in the lobster fishery from the Florida Keys. We tested the effect of PaV1-infected lobsters in traps on catch and on transmission to other trapped, uninfected lobsters. We found that 11% of the lobsters caught in commercial traps were positive for the virus by PCR, but none of these animals showed visible signs of disease. We also tested whether healthy lobsters avoid diseased lobsters in traps. Traps into which we introduced an infected lobster caught significantly fewer lobsters than traps containing an uninfected lobster. Moreover, uninfected lobsters confined in traps with infected lobsters acquired significantly more PaV1 infections than those confined with uninfected lobsters. This study demonstrates the indirect effects that pathogens can have on fisheries and the unintended consequences of certain fishery practices on the epidemiology of a marine pathogen.

Development of a method to determine carotenoid composition of fresh forages

2008 ◽  
Vol 88 (6) ◽  
pp. 1057-1064 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Cardinault ◽  
B. Lyan ◽  
M. Doreau ◽  
B. Chauveau ◽  
E. Rock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
Gradient System ◽  
Mountain Meadow ◽  
Coefficients Of Variation ◽  
Carotenoid Composition ◽  
Ruminant Diets ◽  
In Series ◽  
First Time ◽  
Β Carotene

Due to the limited interest in carotenoids in ruminant diets until recently, analyses of forages are often incomplete, focusing mainly on β-carotene and lutein. Carotenoid composition of green forage from middle mountain meadow was analyzed by HPLC after extraction and elimination of chlorophylls by mild saponification. This method of analysis uses two C18 columns in series with a quaternary gradient system. Our method allowed, for the first time, the identification and quantification of several xanthophylls other than lutein (i.e., violaxanthin, antheraxanthin, epilutein) in chlorophyll-free extracts from carotenoid-rich forage. The intra-day (3.5–7.5 %) and inter-day (1.2–3.5 %) coefficients of variation are suitable for routine determination of carotenoids in green forage. This method could also be used in metabolic studies of these micronutrients in ruminants. Key words: Xanthophylls, carotenoids, fresh forage, HPLC

Hydrodynamic decoupling of recruitment, habitat quality and adult abundance in the Caribbean spiny lobster: source - sink dynamics?

1997 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 807 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. N. Lipcius ◽  
W. T. Stockhausen ◽  
D. B. Eggleston ◽  
L. S. Marshall Jr ◽  
B. Hickey
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Marine Reserve ◽  
Spiny Lobster ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Nursery Habitat ◽  
Panulirus Argus ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Juvenile Density ◽  
Adult Abundance

Marine species possess dispersive stages that interconnect subpopulations, which may inhabit ‘source’ and ‘sink’ habitats, where reproduction and emigration either exceed or fall short of mortality and immigration, respectively. Postlarval supply, juvenile density and adult abundance of the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, were measured at four widely separated sites spanning >100 km in Exuma Sound, Bahamas. Adult abundance was lowest at a site with the highest postlarval supply and little nursery habitat; hence, it was tentatively classified as a sink. Circulation in Exuma Sound is dominated by large-scale gyres which apparently concentrate and advect postlarvae toward the nominal sink. The remaining three sites, including one marine reserve, had higher adult abundances despite lower postlarval supply, and are therefore tentatively classified as sources. Postlarval supply is probably decoupled from adult abundance by physical transport. Adult abundance is likely decoupled from postlarval supply by the effects of varying habitat quality upon postlarval and juvenile survival, as indicated by non-significant differences among sites in juvenile density. It appears that some sites with suitable settlement and nursery habitat are sources of spawning stock for Panulirus argus, whereas others with poor habitat are sinks despite sufficient postlarval influx.

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