Effect of Temperature on the Behavior of Stage IV American Lobster (Homarus americanus) Larvae

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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Swimming Ability of Larval American Lobsters, Homarus americanus, in Flowing Water

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f86-266 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 43 (11) ◽

pp. 2177-2183 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

G. P. Ennis

Keyword(s):

Stage Iv ◽

Homarus Americanus ◽

American Lobster ◽

Flowing Water ◽

Swimming Ability ◽

Flow Rates ◽

Larval Stages ◽

Upstream Direction ◽

Swimming Capacity ◽

Observation Period

The swimming capacity of American lobster, Homarus americanus, larvae in flowing water was observed in a screened-off portion of a flow tank. At a flow rate of 2 cm∙s−1, stage I–III larvae were swimming for 46–74% of the observations during the first 5 min but this ranged from 0 to 28% toward the end of a 30-min period. At higher flow rates, however, very few of these larvae were able to continue swimming longer than 5 min. Newly molted stage IV larvae displayed substantially improved swimming ability compared with earlier stages. At 2 cm∙s−1, these larvae were swimming for 40–48% of the observations over the 30-min period, although at higher flow rates their capacity to continue swimming was also limited and few were observed swimming longer than 10 min. Older stage IV larvae were more capable swimmers than newly molted stage IV larvae and displayed a capacity to continue swimming over the 30-min observation period at flow rates up to 9 cm∙s−1. In flowing water, the frequency of orientation in the upstream direction for larvae that were swimming was higher than for control larvae. For stage IV larvae especially, this frequency was higher at the higher flow rates. The observations demonstrate the presence of a rheotactic response in all larval stages of the American lobster. The response is relatively weak in stages I–III but strong in stage IV.

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The effect of temperature on foraging activity and digestion in the American lobster Homarus americanus (Milne Edwards, 1837) (Decapoda: Nephropsidae) feeding on blue mussels Mytilus edulis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Journal of Crustacean Biology ◽

10.1163/1937240x-00002414 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 138-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Guoqiang Wang ◽

Leah M. Robertson ◽

Iain J. McGaw ◽

Brendan F. Wringe

Keyword(s):

Mytilus Edulis ◽

Homarus Americanus ◽

Effect Of Temperature ◽

American Lobster ◽

Foraging Activity ◽

Blue Mussels

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Behavior and Distribution of Larval and Early Jevenile Homarus americanus

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f83-252 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 40 (12) ◽

pp. 2184-2188 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

J. S. Cobb ◽

T. Gulbransen ◽

B. F. Phillips ◽

D. Wang ◽

M. Syslo

Keyword(s):

Stage Iv ◽

Homarus Americanus ◽

American Lobster ◽

Substrate Selection ◽

Fourth Stage ◽

Shallow Sea ◽

Behavioral Observations

Field behavioral observations and plankton tows show that American lobster (Homarus americanus) larvae are concentrated in downwellings characteristic of shallow sea fronts. Stage IV lobsters swimming at the surface avoided floating weeds and sticks. Seventy percent of laboratory-reared fourth stage lobsters swam near the surface for more than a minute when released but only 25% of fifth stage lobsters did so. When early fourth stage lobsters encountered bottom, they did not remain long in one place, but late fourth and early fifth stage lobsters began to burrow. Late fourth and early fifth stage lobsters were less likely to return to the surface when they reached the bottom. If the bottom was unsuitable (featureless sand), the lobsters resumed swimming. These behaviors appear to be an appropriate mechanism for substrate selection during settlement.

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Salinity Tolerance and Osmoregulation in the Nemertean Pseudocarcinonemertes homari, an Egg Predator of American Lobster, Homarus americanus

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f91-028 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 48 (2) ◽

pp. 209-214 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

G. Charmantier ◽

M. Charmantier-Daures ◽

S. L. Waddy ◽

D. E. Aiken

Keyword(s):

Salinity Tolerance ◽

Stage Iv ◽

Homarus Americanus ◽

Index Formula ◽

American Lobster ◽

Egg Masses ◽

Egg Predator

The salinity tolerance and osmoregulation of Pseudocarcinonemertes homari were determined to develop a method for elimination of this nemertean from egg masses of American lobster, Homarus americanus. The lower and upper lethal salinities (LS50) for nemerteans are 11 and 45‰ at 7 °C and 19 and 37‰ at 14.5 °C. Immersion in freshwater was lethal in 4 min or less, depending on temperature. The nemerteans hyperosmoconformed over the range 10–1600 mosm∙kg−1. Lobster eggs (eye index [Formula: see text]) survived for 2–8 h when immersed in freshwater. Ovigerous lobster were not affected by a 5-min immersion in freshwater and were able to withstand at least 30 min if only the abdomen was immersed. Lobster eggs hatched and larvae developed normally up to at least stage IV, even after a 30-min freshwater immersion. These results suggest that nemerteans could be eliminated from American lobster by immersing their abdomen and attached eggs in freshwater for 5 min and immersing the entire lobster for an additional 5 min.

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Corrigendum to: Effect of temperature on development rate of larvae from cold-water American lobster (Homarus americanus) (DOI: 10.1163/1937240X-00002150)

Journal of Crustacean Biology ◽

10.1163/1937240x-00002207 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 126-126

Author(s):

Brady K. Quinn

Keyword(s):

Cold Water ◽

Homarus Americanus ◽

Development Rate ◽

Effect Of Temperature ◽

American Lobster

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Larval Development of the European Lobster and How Small Heterochronic Shifts Lead to a More Pronounced Metamorphosis

International Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1155/2015/345172 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-17 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Marie A. I. N. Rötzer ◽

Joachim T. Haug

Keyword(s):

Larval Stage ◽

Stage Iv ◽

Extreme Case ◽

Homarus Americanus ◽

Stage Iii ◽

American Lobster ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

European Lobster ◽

Larval Stages ◽

Two Factors

We redescribe the larval stages of the European lobster,Homarus gammarus, based on autofluorescence composite imaging. We focus on larval stages (II) to (IV). Compared to the American lobster,Homarus americanus, differences are most apparent in stage (III). This stage appears more mature inH. gammarus; for example, the rostrum is already curved and bears spines, and the appendages are better developed and longer and more differentiated. InH. americanusstage (III) shows a stronger resemblance to stage (II). As a result of the morphology of stage (III), the “metamorphic” moult between stage (III) and stage (IV) inH. gammarusis less drastic than inH. americanus. Metamorphosis is characterised by two criteria. It involves (1) a drastic change in morphology in (2) a short amount of time. It has hence been suggested that a more pronounced metamorphosis evolves by two factors affecting these criteria, namely, (1) the evolution of specialised larval features, which increase the morphological disparity between larva and adult that makes the change of morphology more drastic, and (2) the skipping of entire stages. This means larval forms ancestrally moult over several intermediate forms into the definite adult morphology. Yet, in more derived forms the stages with intermediate morphologies are no longer expressed; highly specialized larvae moult into the adult within a single moult (in the most extreme case) hence bridging the morphologies of larvae and adult in a shorter amount of time. The example of the twoHomarusspecies demonstrates that this explanation is not the only possible one. Additionally, differences of a single larval stage (in this case larval stage (III)) can lead to a more or less metamorphic-appearing ontogenetic sequence.

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Recruitment Dynamics in an American Lobster (Homarus americanus) Population

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f86-289 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 43 (11) ◽

pp. 2368-2376 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Michael J. Fogarty ◽

Josef S. Idoine

Keyword(s):

Larval Settlement ◽

Stage Iv ◽

Homarus Americanus ◽

American Lobster ◽

Control Analysis ◽

Larval Phase ◽

Density Dependent ◽

Larval Production ◽

Asymptotic Relationship ◽

Density Dependent Regulation

We examined relationships between successive life history stages of an American lobster (Homarus americanus) population for evidence of density-dependent control. Analysis of a time series of larval production estimates for the Northumberland Strait region of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence during 1949–63 (D. J. Scarratt. 1964. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 21: 661–680; D. J. Scarratt. 1973. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 30: 1819–1824) provided no indication of density-dependent regulation during the pelagic larval phase. However, an asymptotic relationship between the final (fourth) larval stage and stock size 5–7 yr later was demonstrated, indicating the possibility of density-dependent regulation between larval settlement and subsequent recruitment to the fishery. A second analysis supported these results based on trends in population size over several generations. A recruitment mechanism of this type is highly stabilizing and can explain the apparent capacity of lobster populations to sustain high levels of fishing mortality. The postulated recruitment mechanism for Northumberland Strait lobsters may reflect competition for critical resources. We propose that shelter is an important limiting resource and that shelter competition experiments be undertaken in the field and laboratory to test this hypothesis. Finally, we demonstrate the use of a multistage recruitment model which accounts for the general form of observed interstage relationships. The asymptotic relationship between stage IV production and subsequent stock results in a stable population which is resilient to exploitation.

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