Applications of Biochemical Genetics to Aquaculture

American lobster (Homarus americanus) catches are diminishing. More than 90% of the annual catch is 2.2-kg (1-lb) minimum legal size. Females of this size may have produced 10,000 eggs prior to catch, but, with an estimated larval survival of 1/100,000, 10 females are required to reproduce 1 female. The prognosis for the lobster fishery appears poor.Laboratory culture of larval lobsters can achieve more than 60% survival at a cost of about 2¢ per postlarval juvenile. The effectiveness of restocking has never been evaluated.Starch-gel electrophoresis reveals protein differences among individual lobsters: progeny studies confirm Mendelian inheritance of allozymes encoded by five independent genes, Est-2, Idh, Pgi-3, Pgi-4, and Pgm-1. Genetic markers may be determined by biochemical analysis of pereiopod tissue, without killing. Allozyme frequencies have been measured in natural populations (e.g. Pgm-1103 is absent in lobsters from Martha’s Vineyard (MVS), but occurs elsewhere in frequencies of 0.C2). Larvae with rare allozyme genotypes (e.g. Pgm-1100/103 or Pgm-1103/103 at MVS) may be obtained from selected females or produced by appropriate matings. These may be released, and their survival at selected times after release monitored by leg sampling from lobsters of the appropriate age-class. This technique is being used to select diverse parental stocks and produce progeny which may show hybrid vigor. These stocks will be used in developing lobster farming.

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Linking rising pCO2 and temperature to the larval development and physiology of the American lobster (Homarus americanus)

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsw154 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 74 (4) ◽

pp. 1210-1219 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Jesica D. Waller ◽

Richard A. Wahle ◽

Halley McVeigh ◽

David M. Fields

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Larval Development ◽

Stage Iv ◽

Homarus Americanus ◽

Larval Survival ◽

Interactive Effects ◽

High Pco2 ◽

American Lobster ◽

Feeding Rates ◽

Intergovernmental Panel

Few studies have evaluated the joint effects of elevated temperature and pCO2 on marine organisms. In this study we investigated the interactive effects of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted temperature and pCO2 for the end of the 21st century on key aspects of larval development of the American lobster, Homarus americanus, an otherwise well-studied, iconic, and commercially prominent species in the northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada. Our experiments showed that larvae (stages I–III) and postlarvae (stage IV) reared in the high temperature treatments (19 °C) experienced significantly lower survival, developed twice as fast, and had significantly higher oxygen consumption rates, than those in ambient treatments (16 °C). Larvae from the ambient temperature/high pCO2 (750 ppm) treatment had significantly longer carapace lengths, greater dry masses in stages I–III and higher C: N ratios in stage IV than larvae from all other treatments. Stage IVs raised in the high pCO2 treatment at 19 °C had significantly higher feeding rates and swimming speeds than stage IVs from the other three treatments. Together these results suggest that projected end-century warming will have greater adverse effects than increased pCO2 on larval survival, and changing pCO2 may have a complex effect on larval metabolism and behaviour. Understanding how the most vulnerable life stages of the lobster life cycle respond to climate change is essential in connecting the northward geographic shifts projected by habitat quality models, and the underlying physiological and genetic mechanisms that drive their ecology.

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Newly Hatched Stage I American Lobster (Homarus americanus) Survival Following Exposure to Physically and Chemically Dispersed Crude Oil

10.21203/rs.3.rs-781438/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Benjamin de Jourdan ◽

Tahereh Boloori ◽

Les Burridge

Keyword(s):

Environmental Protection Agency ◽

Native Species ◽

Toxicity Testing ◽

Homarus Americanus ◽

Larval Survival ◽

Stage I ◽

Toxicity Tests ◽

American Lobster ◽

Atlantic Canada ◽

Test Species

Abstract Standard model species are commonly used in toxicity tests due to their biological and technical advantages but studying native species increases the specificity and relevance of results generated for the potential risk assessment to an ecosystem. Accounting for intraspecies variability and other factors, such as chemical and physical characterization of test medium, is necessary to develop a reproducible bioassay for toxicity testing with native species. In this study, larval stage I American lobster (Homarus americanus) was selected as the test species, which is native to Atlantic Canada. Toxicity tests were first conducted exposing lobster larvae to a reference toxicant of copper sulfate (CuSO4) and then to physically and chemically dispersed oil. The effect on larval survival was estimated by calculating the median effect concentration (EC50) as 2.54-9.73 mg TPH/L when all trials are considered together. The HC5 or PNEC value was 2.52 mg TPH/L and therefore a narrow difference from the EC50 value. The inter-trial variability (coefficient of variability = 17%) was lower than the US Environmental Protection Agency standard test species of mysid shrimp (Americamysis bahia) and inland silversides (Menidia bervillina). Our results indicate that the described larval lobster bioassay is reliable to produce repeatable results for this commercially important and native species of Atlantic Canada.

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A simulation study to evaluate impacts of uncertainty on the assessment of American lobster fishery in the Gulf of Maine

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f02-102 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 59 (8) ◽

pp. 1394-1403 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Yong Chen ◽

Carl Wilson

Keyword(s):

Confidence Level ◽

Gulf Of Maine ◽

Homarus Americanus ◽

American Lobster ◽

Large Uncertainty ◽

Decision Confidence ◽

The Status ◽

Status Assessment ◽

Lobster Fishery ◽

Risk Managers

The status of the American lobster (Homarus americanus) in the Gulf of Maine (GOM) has been assessed for the last two decades by comparing an estimated current fishing mortality rate for females (Fcur) with a deterministically estimated biological reference point, F10%. The most recent assessment determined that GOM had exceeded the F10% for every year calculated, although in this time landings and abundance have doubled. The current policy does not consider uncertainty in the assessment. This study evaluates the impacts of uncertainty in F10% and Fcur on the status assessment of lobster fishery. Using a Monte Carlo simulation approach, we found that the status assessment would be influenced by uncertainties in estimating F10% and Fcur, and by the choice of decision confidence level reflecting the level of risk managers would like to take. A large uncertainty in Fcur and F10% and a high decision confidence level reduce the likelihood of defining the stock as overfished, and vice versa. Our results suggest that the probability of lobster overfishing may be less than previously thought, and that uncertainty in Fcur and F10% should be quantified and considered in determining the status of the GOM lobster stock.

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Delayed Recruitment Models and Their Application to the American Lobster (Homarus americanus) Fishery

Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada ◽

10.1139/f76-225 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 33 (8) ◽

pp. 1779-1787 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Guy D. Marchesseault ◽

Saul B. Saila ◽

William J. Palm

Keyword(s):

Rhode Island ◽

Homarus Americanus ◽

Management Decision ◽

American Lobster ◽

Stock Level ◽

Analytical Properties ◽

Management Decision Making ◽

Subsequent Behavior ◽

Lobster Fishery ◽

Recruitment Model

A delayed recruitment model intended for use in developing dynamic strategies for fisheries management is proposed. The conceptual and analytical properties of the model are elaborated and compared with those of the instantaneous model of Schaefer and the delayed recruitment model recently suggested by Walter. Of the three models discussed, the delayed recruitment model proposed herein constitutes the more biologically meaningful tool for use in management decision making with fisheries characterized by a multiple year delay between spawning and recruitment. The proposed delay and Schaefer models are fitted to catch and effort data from the Rhode Island inshore pot lobster fishery, and the generated coefficients are examined with respect to their interpretation and relative importance. Values of optimum equilibrium catch and effort are calculated for the proposed delay and Schaefer models, and we show that the delay model’s estimates of these management indices are more conservative than those derived from Schaefer’s model. The proposed delay and Schaefer models are compared in a dynamic analysis of the fishery, in which perturbations in the stock level and fluctuations in the applied effort are simulated to predict the subsequent behavior of the stock.

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Biochemical Genetics of Fundulus heteroclitus (L.): V. Inheritance of 10 Biochemical Loci

Journal of Heredity ◽

10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a110528 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 79 (5) ◽

pp. 359-365 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

D. C. Brown ◽

I. J. Ropson ◽

D. A. Powers

Keyword(s):

Gel Electrophoresis ◽

Fundulus Heteroclitus ◽

Tissue Specificity ◽

Intracellular Localization ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Starch Gel Electrophoresis ◽

Biochemical Genetics ◽

Linkage Groups ◽

Electrophoretic Variants ◽

Starch Gel

Abstract Starch gel electrophoresis has shown that natural populations of Fundulus heteroclitus have electrophoretic variants for at least 21 loci. We provide inheritance data for 10 polymorphic systems: esterases (Est-B, EST-C, and Est-D); aspartate amlnotransferases (Aat-A, and Aat-B); mannosephosphate isomerase (Mpl-A); acid phosphatase (Ap-A); phosphoglucomutase (Pgm-B); hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (H6pdh-A); and fumarase (Fum-A). Variants for nine of these loci segregate as autosomally inherited codominant alleles. The other system, EST-C, does not reflect such inheritance. We have identified two possible linkage groups: H6pdh-A may be loosely linked to Pgm-B, and Fum-A appears to be linked to Pgm-A. Tissue specificity and intracellular localization for all these loci are also presented.

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Biochemical Genetics of Lobsters: Genetic Variation and the Structure of American Lobster (Homarus americanus) Populations

Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada ◽

10.1139/f75-247 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 32 (11) ◽

pp. 2091-2101 ◽

Cited By ~ 98

Author(s):

Martin L. Tracey ◽

Keith Nelson ◽

Dennis Hedgecock ◽

Robert A. Shleser ◽

Mary Lou Pressick

Keyword(s):

Genetic Variation ◽

Malic Enzyme ◽

Homarus Americanus ◽

American Lobster ◽

Biochemical Genetics ◽

Enzyme Locus ◽

Local Populations ◽

Morphological Studies ◽

Average Proportion ◽

Low Levels

Eight populations of American lobsters, Homarus americanus, were surveyed for genetic variation at 44 loci encoding electrophoretically detectable proteins. Rather low levels of genetic variability were found, the average proportion of heterozygous loci per individual being 3.8%. Genetic variation is concentrated at only eight loci, with just five loci — Acid phosphatase-1, Esterase-2, Phosphoglucose isomerase-4, Phosphoglucomutase-1, and Tetrazolium reductase-2 — having proportions of heterozygotes greater than 20%. Interpopulation differences are small; the genetic identity averaged over all loci, I, is above 0.99 in all but three comparisons. Differentiation between populations was found only at the Malic enzyme locus, but the degree of this differentiation supports the suggestion from previous migration and morphological studies that H. americanus is subdivided into a number of more or less geographically isolated inshore and offshore populations. These local populations are nonetheless genetically similar.

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Growth of juvenile American lobster Homarus americanus in a changing environment

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps11854 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 557 ◽

pp. 177-187 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

MD McMahan ◽

DF Cowan ◽

Y Chen ◽

GD Sherwood ◽

JH Grabowski

Keyword(s):

Homarus Americanus ◽

American Lobster ◽

Changing Environment

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Predicting bycatch hotspots based on suitable habitat derived from fishery-independent data

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13302 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 641 ◽

pp. 159-175

Author(s):

J Runnebaum ◽

KR Tanaka ◽

L Guan ◽

J Cao ◽

L O’Brien ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Habitat Suitability ◽

Mixed Model ◽

Linear Mixed Model ◽

Gulf Of Maine ◽

Homarus Americanus ◽

Management Tool ◽

American Lobster ◽

Suitable Habitat ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Suitability Index

Bycatch remains a global problem in managing sustainable fisheries. A critical aspect of management is understanding the timing and spatial extent of bycatch. Fisheries management often relies on observed bycatch data, which are not always available due to a lack of reporting or observer coverage. Alternatively, analyzing the overlap in suitable habitat for the target and non-target species can provide a spatial management tool to understand where bycatch interactions are likely to occur. Potential bycatch hotspots based on suitable habitat were predicted for cusk Brosme brosme incidentally caught in the Gulf of Maine American lobster Homarus americanus fishery. Data from multiple fisheries-independent surveys were combined in a delta-generalized linear mixed model to generate spatially explicit density estimates for use in an independent habitat suitability index. The habitat suitability indices for American lobster and cusk were then compared to predict potential bycatch hotspot locations. Suitable habitat for American lobster has increased between 1980 and 2013 while suitable habitat for cusk decreased throughout most of the Gulf of Maine, except for Georges Basin and the Great South Channel. The proportion of overlap in suitable habitat varied interannually but decreased slightly in the spring and remained relatively stable in the fall over the time series. As Gulf of Maine temperatures continue to increase, the interactions between American lobster and cusk are predicted to decline as cusk habitat continues to constrict. This framework can contribute to fisheries managers’ understanding of changes in habitat overlap as climate conditions continue to change and alter where bycatch interactions could occur.

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