Paralomis Granulosa Research Articles

Extended hatching periods in the subantarctic lithodid crabs Lithodes santolla and Paralomis granulosa (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae)

Temporal pattern of hatching was studied in the subantarctic lithodid crabs Lithodes santolla (Molina) and Paralomis granulosa (Jaquinot) from the Argentine Beagle Channel. In both species, larval hatching occurred in low daily numbers over an extended period of up to several weeks, depending on hatch size. Low daily hatching activity and low oxygen-consumption rates in freshly hatched P. granulosa larvae are discussed as life history adaptations to, and/or physiological constraints by, the environmental conditions of high latitudes.

Lipid, fatty acid and protein utilization during lecithotrophic larval development of Lithodes santolla (Molina) and Paralomis granulosa (Jacquinot)

During the larval development of the subantarctic king crab, Lithodes santolla, and stone crab, Paralomis granulosa, we compared changes in the carbon, fatty acid and protein contents of larvae reared under constant conditions from hatching to metamorphosis, either in presence or absence of food ( Artemia spp. nauplii). In both species the feeding condition had no influence on any of the chemical parameters studied, indicating a fully lecithotrophic (i.e. non-feeding) mode of development from hatching of the first zoea to metamorphosis of the late megalopa. Dry mass and carbon contents at hatching were similar in the larvae of both species, but L. santolla contained initially higher total amounts of fatty acids and protein than P. granulosa. Both species utilized considerable portions of their total fatty acid pool which decreased logarithmically throughout the time of development. At metamorphosis, it was almost exhausted in P. granulosa, while L. santolla had consumed only about 60%. Protein utilization, in contrast, was higher in L. santolla (40%) than in P. granulosa (20%). Triacylglycerol was the principal storage lipid in both species, accounting initially for about 75% of the lipid fraction; it was strongly utilized during larval development. Phospholipid constituted the second largest lipid class; it also decreased in P. granulosa, but to a lesser extent in L. santolla. The major fatty acids of both species were 18:1( n−9), 20:5( n−3) and 16:0 as well as, in lower proportions, 18:1( n−7), 22:6( n−3), 16:1( n−7) and 18:0. Monounsaturated fatty acids represented the dominant group in L. santolla, whereas P. granulosa contained similar amounts of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. In L. santolla, monounsaturated fatty acids, especially 16:1( n−7), were preferentially utilized as compared to polyunsaturates. Due to a particularly strong lipid utilization in P. granulosa, all individual fatty acids were largely depleted at metamorphosis, showing similar extents of consumption. L. santolla had higher initial lipid and protein stores that seem to be used more economically as compared to P. granulosa.

The barnacle Notobalanus flosculus as an indicator of the intermolt period of the male lithodid crab Paralomis granulosa

The exoskeleton of the stone crab Paralomis granulosa (Decapoda: Lithodidae) is one of the sub- strates on which the barnacle Notobalanus flosculus set- tles in the Beagle Channel of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina (55� S6 7� W). The presence of such an epi- biont can be useful for estimating the intermolt period of pre-recruit and recruited crabs to the legal, fishable stock of crab. We undertook an investigation of the timing of N. flosculus settlement on P. granulosa exoskeletons, and their subsequent loss during molting, as a step toward forecasting fishable stock biomass. Between December 1996 and December 1998, 10-15 male P. granulosa with the epibiont N. flosculus were sampled each month in the fishery catches. Almost every month from 1995 to 1998 we evaluated the carapace age of 30,051 crabs, as judged from the degree and type of epibionts. We supplemented our fishery-based investigation with an overlapping investigation of the timing of N. flosculus settlement on artificial collectors. In September 1996, we deployed 240 clay tiles as collectors which were checked monthly for the presence of newly settled N. flosculus. From 1995 to 1997 the prevalence of N. flosculus as an epibiont of P. granulosa was 20% in male crabs >80 mm carapace length (CL). P. granulosa molted in December, yet the frequency of molted crabs >80 mm CL de- creased with size and the prevalence of barnacles was significantly greater than on crabs <80 mm CL. N. flosculus grew well as an epibiont on P. granulosa and remained on crab exoskeletons for 13 months. Our observation that the densest settlements of barnacle cohorts on the artificial collectors occurred previously or simultaneously with the molting period of male P. granulosa provides evidence that P. granulosa carry- ing N. flosculus between January and November skipped their molt. Moreover, barnacle cohorts of December, February and March seemed not to settle onto crab carapaces. Our conclusion can help us calculate the proportion of skip-molters in the population, and sub- sequently explain or forecast changes in the fishable stock biomass of crab after each molting season.

Larval and early juvenile development of Paralomis granulosa reared at different temperatures: tolerance of cold and food limitation in a lithodid crab from high latitudes

Paralomis granulosa Jacquinot is a commercially fished lithodid crab species living in subantarctic and cold-temperate regions of southern South America. Its larval stages (Zoea I, II, Megalopa) are fully lecithotrophic, developing in the complete absence of food from hatching through metamorphosis; first feeding occurs in the first juvenile crab stage. In laboratory rearing experiments conducted at constant 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15°C, we studied rates of larval and early juve- nile survival and development in relation to temperature. At 1°C, many larvae (52%) reached the Megalopa stage almost 2 mo after hatching, but all died subsequently without passing through meta- morphosis. Larval development was successfully completed at all other temperatures, with maximum survival at 6 to 9°C. The time of non-feeding larval development from hatching to metamorphosis lasted, on average, from 24 d (at 15°C) to almost 4 mo (117 d, at 3°C). When the experiment was ter- minated 1 yr after hatching, the 3rd (3°C) to 8th (15°C) juvenile crab instar had been reached. The relationship between the time of development through individual larval or juvenile stages (y) and temperature (T) was described as a power function (y = a × T b , or log(y) = log(a) + b · log(T); the same regression model was also used to describe the temperature-dependence of cumulative periods of development from hatching. The wide thermal tolerance window for successful larval development (at least 3 to 15°C) and the broad geographic range of this species show that the early life-cycle stages of P. granulosa are cold-eurythermal. This physiological trait together with larval independence of food indicate that this lithodid crab species is well adapted to severe conditions of cold in com- bination with the food-limitation in subantarctic regions. Since similar traits have been also observed in other Lithodidae, we suggest that early life-history adaptations to low temperatures and low plank- tonic productivity may explain the high number of lithodid species occurring at high latitudes and in the deep sea, i.e. in conditions under which other Decapoda show strongly reduced diversity.

Changes in biomass and chemical composition during lecithotrophic larval development of the southern stone crab Paralomis granulosa

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 257:189-196 (2003) - doi:10.3354/meps257189 Changes in biomass and chemical composition during lecithotrophic larval development of the southern stone crab Paralomis granulosa Javier A. Calcagno1,*, Sven Thatje2, Klaus Anger3, Gustavo A. Lovrich4, Antje Kaffenberger3 1Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Intendente Güiraldes 2160, Lab 64, 4 to Piso, Pab II, Cdad Universitaria C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, PO Box 120 161, 27515 Bremerhaven, Germany 3Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Stiftung Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, 27498 Helgoland, Germany 4Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas, CADIC, CC 92, V9410BFD Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina *Email: javier@bg.fcen.uba.ar ABSTRACT: Changes in biomass and elemental composition (dry mass, W; carbon, C; nitrogen, N; hydrogen, H) were studied in the laboratory during complete larval and early juvenile development of the southern stone crab Paralomis granulosa (Jacquinot). At 6 ± 0.5°C; total larval development from hatching to metamorphosis lasted ca. 56 d, comprising 2 demersal zoeal stages and a benthic megalopa, with mean stage durations of 5, 11 and 45 d, respectively. All larval stages of P. granulosa are lecithotrophic, and first feeding and growth were consistently observed immediately after metamorphosis to the first juvenile crab stage. Regardless of presence or absence of food, W, C, N, and H decreased throughout larval development. Also the C:N mass ratio decreased significantly, from 7.2 at hatching to 4.2 at metamorphosis, indicating that a large initial lipid store remaining from the egg yolk was gradually utilised as an internal energy source. In total, about 68% of the initial quantities of C and H present at hatching, and 44% of N were lost during non-feeding larval development to metamorphosis. Approximately 10% of the initially present C, N and H were lost with larval exuviae, half of which was lost in the megalopa stage alone. Hence, metabolic biomass degradation accounted for losses of ca. 59% in C and H, but for only 33% in N. Most of the losses in C and H reflected metabolic energy consumption (primarily lipid degradation), while ca. 1/4 of the losses in N and 2/3 of those in W were due to larval exuviation. Complete larval lecithotrophy is based on an enhanced maternal energy investment per offspring, and on energy-saving mechanisms such as low larval locomotory activity and low exuvial losses. These traits are interpreted as bioenergetic adaptations to food-limited conditions in subantarctic regions, where a pronounced seasonality limits the period of primary production. KEY WORDS: Lecithotrophy · Cold adaptation · Larval development · Subantarctic · Crustacea · Decapoda Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 257. Online publication date: August 07, 2003 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2003 Inter-Research.

Toxicidad del petróleo diesel en el primer estadio larval de la centolla (Lithodes santolla) y del centollón (Paralomis granulosa)

Lithodes santolla (commonly named “centolla”) and Paralomis granulosa (“centollon”) are the most important commercial fisheries in Tierra del Fuego and diese...

Reproductive potential of the lithodids &lt;i&gt;Lithodes santolla&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Paralomis granulosa&lt;/i&gt; (Anomura, Decapoda) in the Beagle Channel, Argentina

Lithodidae is the only group of reptant decapods that occurs in Antarctic waters and has been particularly abundant in the Beagle Channel, Straits of Magellan and south to 50o S. Because of their abundance in coastal waters, the sympatric Lithodes santolla and Paralomis granulosa have constituted a mixed fishery since the 1930s. The two species differ markedly in their reproductive potential. Lithodes santolla is large (maximum size of 190 mm carapace length, CL, and 8 kg weight), has a generation time of 6 yrs., the reproductive cycle is annual and females carry between 5,000-60,000 eggs per female per clutch. In their life span, L. santolla females produce 6 times more eggs than P. granulosa females. Paralomis granulosa is smaller than its relative (maximum 115 mm CL and 1.5 kg weight), and has a slower growth rate, resulting in a generation time of 12 yrs. The reproductive cycle is biennial and females carry between 800-10,000 eggs per female per clutch. Moreover, the reproductive potential of P. granulosa is reduced because an important proportion of the largest and more prolific females of the population do not carry eggs. In other terms, in one generation time of P. granulosa, two complete generations of L. santolla are produced, and compared to other Subantarctic lithodids L. santolla is the most prolific species. The higher reproductive potential of L. santolla probably confers to this species the ability to recover more rapidly from an overfishing situation.

Seasonality of larvae of Brachyura and Anomura (Crustacea Decapoda) in the Beagle Channel, Argentina

), H. planatus (143 larvae · 10 m-3) and Pagurus spp. (79 larvae · 10 m-3), which represented 97% of the total larvae collected. Larvae of Pinnotheridae, Eurypodius latreillii, Libidoclaea granaria, and Paralomis granulosa were about an order of magnitude less abundant. Relative abundances of larvae correspond to relative abundances of the respective benthic stages. The absence of certain larval stages or of certain species (Acanthocyclus albatrossis and Lithodes santolla) probably indicates their differential distribution within the Beagle Channel. Particularly, lithodid larvae may have benthic or epibenthic habits.

Feeding habits of the false southern king crab &lt;i&gt;Paralomis granulosa&lt;/i&gt; (Lithodidae) in the Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

SUMMARY: Stomach contents of 282 false southern king crabs (Paralomis granulosa), between 10 to 90 mm CL from the Beagle Channel (Golondrina Bay and Roca Mora), Argentina, were examined by the frequency of occurrence method of analysis and by a food index. Roca Mora is an area where juveniles ( 60 mm CL) are common; in this last area sexual segregation was also observed. The principal food groups for crabs of Golondrina Bay were algae, molluscs, crustaceans, bryozoans and foraminiferans; for crabs from Roca Mora the natural diet consisted of three major food groups: hydrozoans, echinoderms and foraminiferans. The relative frequency of different prey groups varied in relation to the size, season and sex. There were no significant differences in the quantity of food consumed by sexes in both areas. Generally small crabs ( 50 mm CL). Juveniles consumed a greater amount of food during winter and spring. In summer (moulting period), juveniles had the highest vacuity index. Adults consumed minor amounts of food during autumn, before the spawning-moulting-mating period when the vacuity index was higher (spring).

INFESTATION OF THE FALSE KING CRAB PARALOMIS GRANULOSA (DECAPODA: LITHODIDAE) BY PSEUDIONE TUBERCULATA (ISOPODA: BOPYRIDAE) IN THE BEAGLE CHANNEL, ARGENTINA

ABSTRACT A total of 16,692 specimens of Paralomis granulosa was collected in the Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, between July 1996 and July 1997. This lithodid was parasitized by a bopyrid isopod identified as Pseudione tuberculata. Infested crabs exhibited a conspicuous bulge on their carapaces, which accommodated the parasite housed in the branchial chamber. The prevalence of infestation by P. tuberculata decreased with crab size, from 45.6% at 10―19.9-mm to 0% at 90―99.9-mm carapace length. Bopyrids were found on 251 occasions in the left branchial chamber and only once in the right branchial chamber. Except for two immature female parasites found in the branchial chamber of a small crab, all parasites were mature females, each usually carrying a dwarf male attached to its abdomen. The length of the female isopods and that of their hosts were positively correlated. These two observations suggest that the parasites infest P. granulosa early in the life of the host, and remain on. and grow up with the host throughout its life. The finding of crabs without bopyrids, but with distended branchial chambers, shows that some crabs survive the infestation. While breeding is inhibited in parasitized hosts, the prevalence of the parasite is already low (about 1.2%) at the size of host maturity. Therefore, we suggest that the reproductive potential of the crab population is not seriously affected by the sterilizing effect of the parasite. Finally, the cooccurrence of this bopyrid and a second parasite, the rhizocephalan Briarosaccus callosus, was recorded, but the prevalence of double infestations was low.

La pesquería mixta de las centollas Lithodes santolla y Paralomis granulosa (Anomura: Lithodidae) en Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

In the Beagle Channel, Argentina (55oS; 66oW) the individuals of two sympatric species of lithodids occur simultaneously in commercial traps: the southern king crab, Lithodes santolla and the false southern king crab, Paralomis granulosa. Hence, this is a mixed fishery. Both species differ markedly in their reproductive potential and therefore, if overexploited, time for stock rebuilding also differs between the species. L. santolla is large (maximum size of 180 mm carapace length, Cl, and 6 kg weight), has a generation time of 6 y, the reproductive cycle is annual and females carry between 5,000-32,000 eggs per female per clutch. P. granulosa is smaller than its cogener (maximum 115 mm Cl and 1.5 kg weight), has a generation time of 12 y, the reproductive cycle is biennial and females carry between 800-10,000 eggs per female per clutch. In the Beagle Channel near the city of Ushuaia, L. santolla population was over-exploited, mainly due to the extraction of larger animals, irrespective of the sex. In the period 1975-1994, the deacrese of: the yield per trap, the average mean size of trapped individuals, the frequency of ovigerous females, and the constant sex-ratio, evidenced the extraction of all marketable animals from the population. Therefore, in 1994, the fishing for L. santolla was closed to allow the population to recover to acceptable commercial and biological levels. For P. granulosa, it is suggested that its life-history traits constrains fishing to low rates, since its recuperation potential is lower than that of L. santolla.

Ornamentation Changes Associated With Growth of Falkland Island Populations of Paralomis Granulosa (Jacquinot, 1842-1847) (Decapoda, Lithodidae)

Thirty two species have been described of the lithodid genus Paralomis White, 1856. Many are known from original descriptions only and nearly all are deep water inhabitants (see Takeda, 1974; Haig, 1974; Eldredge, 1976; Sakai, 1978; Takeda & Ohta, 1979; Andrade, 1980; Sakai, 1980; Takeda & Miyake, 1980; Kensley, 1981; Macpherson, 1982, 1983). Although changes in surface ornamentation associated with growth has been little studied in lithodid crabs generally, within the genus Paralomis conspicuous differences between juveniles and adults have been noted for Paralomis inca Haig and P. ?spera Faxon (see Haig, 1974), and was also mentioned for P. granulosa (Jacquinot) (see Miers, 1881; Stebbing, 1900) but not described in any detail. Recently one of us (C.G.) investigated Falkland Island populations of Paralomis granulosa to assess their commercial potential. This study provided a suitable series of specimens for detailed examination of the changes in surface ornamentation which occur as the crab increases in size. Four female

Histopathology and host response in lithodid crabs parasitized by Briarosaccus callosus

Two red (Paralithodes camtschatica) and 26 golden (Lthodes aequispina) king crabs parasitized by the rhzocephalan Briarosaccus callosus were examined microscopically for histopathological effects of and host response to the parasite. Although numerous organs were invaded and tissues displaced, replaced or compacted, there was little necrosis or degeneration of tissues other than gonads. Host response to healthy B. callosus was negliqble, but degenerating rootlets of the parasite elicited heavy hemocytic response in a typical crustacean foreign-body reaction. Boschma (1962) described Briarosaccus callosus and suggested it may be a cosmopolitan parasite of lithodid crabs, reporting it from Lithodes aequispina in the Bering Sea, L. agassizii off southeastern United States, and L. antarcticus and Paralomis granulosa in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions. Subsequently, Boschma & Haynes (1969) reported it from Pardithodes camtschatica in southeastern Alaska. Hawkes et al. (1985a) first reported B. callosus from Paralithodes platypus, again from southeast Alaska. Prevalences of infection have been investigated in blue king crab Paralithodes platypus (Hawkes et al. 1985a, b), red king crab P. camtschatica (Hawkes et al. 1986), and golden king crab Lithodes aequispina, as have gross observations on the effect on growth, reproduction and migratory behavior of parasitized crabs (Sloan 1984, 1985, Bower & Sloan 1985, Hawkes et al. 1986), but heretofore the histopathological effects have been only briefly mentioned (Sparks 1985, Sparks & Morado 1985). MATERIALS AND METHODS Two red king crabs Parahthodes camtschatica with Briarosaccus callosus externa were shipped alive to our laboratory where necropsies were performed and random samples of the major organ systems were O Inter-Research/Printed in F. R. Germany excised, fixed, and processed by standard histotechniques. All other crabs were collected during crab population surveys by the Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division (RACE) of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) or Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF & G). Necropsies were performed aboard ship by personnel of our laboratory, the NMFS Kodiak Laboratory or the ADF&G. The fixed tissues were processed in our laboratory where microscopical observations were made on the histopathological effects of B. callosus and host response to the parasite in parasitized crabs.