Spotted Spiny Lobster Research Articles

Detection and diagnosis of Panulirus argus virus 1 in captive spiny lobsters using qPCR in conjunction with histopathology and transmission electron microscopy.

Panulirus argus virus 1 (PaV1) is the first and only naturally occurring pathogenic virus described in the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus. PaV1 infection in decapod species that commonly co-occur with P. argus, including the spotted spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus, has not been previously described. In 2016, 14 Caribbean and 5 spotted spiny lobsters were collected near Summerland Key, Florida, to supplement the resident population of the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans, Louisiana. After 5 months in quarantine, Caribbean and spotted spiny lobsters began to exhibit clinical signs of lethargy and dying in the molt. Initial histologic evaluation revealed intranuclear inclusion bodies in circulating hemocytes in the spongy connective tissue of the epidermis, suggesting a viral infection. Samples of hepatopancreas and hemolymph from deceased Caribbean and spotted spiny lobsters tested negative for white spot syndrome virus and positive for PaV1 using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Intranuclear, eosinophilic to amphophilic, Cowdry type A inclusion bodies observed primarily within fixed phagocytes and circulating hemocytes in the hepatopancreas of freshly euthanized Caribbean spiny lobsters were consistent with PaV1 infection. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that hemocytes associated with hepatopancreatic tubules contained viral inclusions with location, size, and morphology consistent with previously described PaV1 infection. These findings highlight the significance of using molecular diagnostics in conjunction with histopathology and electron microscopy in the investigation and diagnosis of PaV1 in spiny lobsters. Further study is required to investigate the relationship of PaV1-associated mortality events and microscopic lesions in the spotted spiny lobster.

Development in culture of larval spotted spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus (Latreille, 1804) (Decapoda: Achelata: Palinuridae)

AbstractThere is little information on the early life history of the spotted spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus (Latreille, 1804), an obligate reef resident, despite its growing importance as a fishery resource in the Caribbean and as a significant predator. We cultured newly-hatched P. guttatus larvae (phyllosomata) in the laboratory for the first time, and the growth, survival, and morphological descriptions are reported through 324 days after hatch (DAH). Phyllosomata were cultured at 25 °C in a flow-through seawater system within a series of custom 80 l plankton-kreisel tanks and provided with ongrown Artemia and mussel gonad. Mean body length (BL) of phyllosomata was 1.70 mm (N = 10) at hatch and increased linearly to 22.20 mm at 226 DAH (N = 3). Morphological characters from a total of 164 sampled phyllosomata were ascribed to nine distinct developmental stages (stages I-IX), and described and illustrated. Although no final stage phyllosomata (stage X) were obtained, the BL in the final stage was extrapolated at 39.6 mm using a Gompertz function, expressing the relationship between phyllosoma stages and BL. The total duration of phyllosomata for P. guttatus was estimated at 410 d, with the 5th and 95th percentiles at 334 and 526 d, respectively. Our data suggest that P. guttatus has a larger body size in the final larval stage and a substantial pelagic larval duration compared with other related panulirid lobsters in its geographic range. The described morphological and biological attributes associated with the early-life history for this species can inform future studies, and add value to models of distribution and population connectivity.

Dietary partitioning between sympatric species of spiny lobster in a coral reef system

Throughout the Wider Caribbean Region, the spotted spiny lobster, Panulirus guttatus (Latreille, 1804), dwells and forages exclusively in coral reef habitat after post-larval settlement, whereas its sympatric species, the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804), undergoes ontogenetic habitat shifts, with smaller individuals dwelling in reef lagoon habitats and larger individuals dwelling in reef habitats, but exhibiting broad foraging ranges. Stomach content, and carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes analyses were used to examine dietary partitioning between co-occurring P. guttatus and reef-dwelling P. argus in a coral reef system off Mexico. Both species fed on a wide variety of invertebrates, but mollusks contributed more to the diet of P. guttatus and crustaceans to the diet of P. argus. The two species had different ranges of isotopic composition and each filled a unique trophic position within the local food web. A Bayesian mixing model revealed a distinct contribution of different food sources to the diet of these lobsters. Reef herbivores were the primary food source for P. argus and an important food source for P. guttatus, but the latter also consumed more carnivores, resulting in a higher trophic position relative to P. argus. The isotopic niche space, delineated by means of bivariate ellipses, exhibited no overlap between species, and P. argus exhibited a significantly larger niche area than P. guttatus. These results suggest that, in addition to a differential use of habitat resources, a differential use of food resources facilitates the local coexistence of these two congeners.

Isolation and characterization of eight polymorphic microsatellites for the spotted spiny lobster, Panulirus guttatus.

Microsatellite sequences were isolated from enriched genomic libraries of the spotted spiny lobster, Panulirus guttatus using 454 pyrosequencing. Twenty-nine previously developed polymerase chain reaction primer pairs of Panulirus argus microsatellite loci were also tested for cross-species amplification in Panulirus guttatus. In total, eight consistently amplifying, and polymorphic loci were characterized for 57 individuals collected in the Florida Keys and Bermuda. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 8 to 20 and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.409 to 0.958. Significant deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium were found in one locus from Florida and three loci from Bermuda. Quality control testing indicated that all loci were easy to score, highly polymorphic and showed no evidence of linkage disequilibrium. Null alleles were detected in three loci with moderate frequencies ranging from (20% to 22%). These eight microsatellites provide novel molecular markers for future conservation genetics research of P. guttatus.

An exception to the rule: top-down control of a coral reef macroinvertebrate community by a tropical spiny lobster

In temperate habitats, predation by lobsters creates trophic cascades that reverberate through benthic communities. However, the influence of lobsters on tropical benthic communities is thought to be minimal due to higher prey diversity and the mobility and broad diet of lobsters. We hypothesized that this would not be the case for the spotted spiny lobster (Panulirus guttatus Latreille, 1804), an obligate, philopatric dweller of Caribbean coral reefs. Our study took place in the Florida Keys (USA), where we examined the gut contents of wild lobsters, conducted laboratory experiments on lobster prey selection and foraging effectiveness in rubble, and manipulated lobster density on isolated patch reefs to examine the effects of lobster predation on macroinvertebrate prey over a 3-yr period. We found P. guttatus to be a generalist carnivore that consumed a suite of macroinvertebrates, including important reef herbivores (e.g., herbivorous crabs, gastropods, and urchins) that comprised >60% of its diet. Higher densities of P. guttatus exerted strong top-down control over the abundance and composition of macroinvertebrate prey in rubble substrates on patch reefs, but not prey living in substrates dominated by macroalgae. Lobster foraging success in rubble also depended on rubble size; lobsters extracted prey from and overturned rubble more easily when rubble was smaller. The abundance and high site fidelity of predatory P. guttatus appears to provide the necessary conditions for top-down control of prey in coral reef rubble zones, an effect similar to the powerful influence of lobster predation observed in temperate ecosystems.

The Influence of Shelter, Conspecifics, and Threat of Predation on the Behavior of the Long-Spined Sea Urchin (Diadema antillarum)

ABSTRACT The interplay of competition and predation often affects prey habitat use, which may concentrate prey in safer areas with indirect consequences on their foraging efficiency and the effects of their foraging on the community. Predation is intense on coral reefs where competition for limited space and food is severe. The sea urchin Diadema antillarum, an inhabitant of Caribbean coral reefs, uses crevice shelters and often aggregates with conspecifics for protection against predators, which appears to reflect a conflicting balance between group defense versus competition for limited shelter. A series of laboratory experiments was used to determine how the availability of shelter, conspecifics, and chemical odors from conspecifics and a predator—the spotted spiny lobster (Panulirus guttatus)—affect D. antillarum shelter use. The long-spined sea urchin D. antillarum responded strongly to the odor of conspecifics and the lobster predator. Absent the threat of predation, D. antillarum compete for shelte...

Effects of predation upon the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum by the spotted spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus

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 495:185-191 (2014) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10568 Effects of predation upon the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum by the spotted spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus Meredith D. Kintzing1,2, Mark J. Butler IV1,* 1Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA 2Present address: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Marine Sciences, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA *Corresponding author: mbutler@odu.edu ABSTRACT: Sea urchins, important herbivores in marine ecosystems, are strongly impacted by both the direct and indirect effects of predation, and the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum is no exception. Once abundant on Caribbean coral reefs, D. antillarum populations were decimated by disease in the early 1980s, and only where their natural predators have been overfished has D. antillarum recovery been observed. Spiny lobsters (Palinuridae) are predators of sea urchins, and although there are several species of spiny lobster in the Caribbean, only the spotted spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus is restricted to coral reefs where D. antillarum dwells. We investigated the direct and indirect impacts of P. guttatus on D. antillarum mortality, foraging, and behavior in a series of laboratory experiments. We found that P. guttatus prey on D. antillarum, especially small urchins. D. antillarum also consumed significantly less algae in the presence of P. guttatus and fled when exposed to the odor of P. guttatus but apparently not the scent of the Caribbean spiny lobster P. argus. The altered foraging and avoidance behaviors displayed by D. antillarum are strong evidence that predation by P. guttatus has played an important, but underappreciated, role in the evolutionary history of D. antillarum and perhaps its recovery on Caribbean coral reefs. KEY WORDS: Diadema antillarum · Panulirus guttatus · Florida Keys · Predation · Trait-mediated interactions · Coral reefs Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Kintzing MD, Butler IV MJ (2014) Effects of predation upon the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum by the spotted spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 495:185-191. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10568 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 495. Online publication date: January 09, 2014 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2014 Inter-Research.

Mate choice and sperm limitation in the spotted spiny lobster, Panulirus guttatus

Mate choice by females is influenced by male size, resource provisioning and other proxies for male quality. In decapod crustaceans, mating dynamics are complicated by size-dependent sperm limitation associated with unusually low sperm :egg ratios. We explored how mate size influences mating dynamics in the spotted spiny lobster (Panulirus guttatus), a philopatric species that dwells on shallow and often isolated coral reefs in the Caribbean where choice of mates can be limited. We varied the availability and size of male and female lobsters in a series of laboratory experiments and then quantified courtship behaviour, mate choice and fertilization success of each mating. We found that large males initiated most interactions with other males and won 99% of those encounters. Large males were also more successful in garnering mates, but males of all sizes attempted to mate with all sizes of females. Females nearly always (92% of trials) chose males larger than themselves. However, if large males were unavailable, females mated with smaller males, which resulted in reduced fertilization success. Thus, for species like P. guttatus that dwell in patchy habitats with limited mate availability, the optimal strategy for mate choice is context-dependent, although not without cost to the largest females.

Seasonal variations in chemical response to conspecific scents in the spotted spiny lobster, Panulirus guttatus

Chemical response to conspecific scents mediate aggregations in some species of spiny lobsters, but patterns of codenning of adult lobsters in their natural habitats vary widely. This is so for Panulirus guttatus, a small, sedentary, obligate reef‐dwelling species with a protracted, almost year‐round reproductive season. We hypothesised that changes in patterns of aggregation may vary with the intensity of reproductive activity in the population, which in turn may cause changes in responses to conspecific scents. To test this hypothesis, we conducted three laboratory experiments with Y‐mazes to test for seasonal variations in gender‐related and size‐related response to conspecific scents in mature P. guttatus. When reproductive activity (RA) was high (experiment High‐RA, 67.4% reproductive females), males responded significantly to scents of conspecifics of both genders, but females only to the scent of females. When reproductive activity had not yet reached its yearly lowest point (experiment Medium‐RA, 50.0% reproductive females), only females responded significantly to scents of other females, and when reproductive activity was at its lowest (experiment Low‐RA, 4.8% reproductive females) no treatment yielded significant responses. However, results of the size‐related treatments showed that only large individuals responded significantly to scents of other large lobsters during the High‐RA experiment, whereas during the Medium‐RA only small individuals responded to scents of both small and large lobsters. These results are in accordance with previously observed size‐dependent reproduction in P. guttatus over the protracted reproductive season. Therefore, chemical response to conspecific scents in P. guttatus vary with season, gender, and size and may influence co‐denning patterns of mature individuals in the reef habitat.

Within-shelter behaviour of the spotted spiny lobster, Panulirus guttatus (latreille), in simulated communal dens: an exploratory study

Panulirus guttatus is a sedentary spiny lobster that dwells in the coral reef habitat. We conducted an exploratory study to describe the within-shelter behaviour of groups of 4–6 individuals of P. guttatus in simulated communal dens deployed in tanks. Lobsters displayed a diel within-shelter activity rhythm, with a peak shortly before dawn due to an increase in agonistic interactions among sheltered individuals. In a single-chamber cave, aggressions resulted in the constant rearrangement of individuals in the den, related to their preference to cling to the walls. In a triple-chamber cave, the largest male often defended one chamber, but the remaining individuals tended to aggregate in one of the other two chambers during the day. These trends suggest that P. guttatus is a gregarious lobster, but that this gregariousness is influenced by the amount of available shelters and by temporary, size-related social hierarchies. This hypothesis should be tested with fully replicated experiments to help understand the patterns of shelter utilization of P. guttatus in the coral reef habitat.

GROWTH AND SIZE AT MATURITY IN THE SPOTTED SPINY LOBSTER, PANULIRUS GUTTATUS

Abstract The spotted spiny lobster, Panulirus guttatus, is a reclusive, reef-dwelling species and appears to be restricted to coral reef habitat for its entire benthic existence. Little is known about its population dynamics, and much of the data that are available is derived primarily from trap-caught individuals and may therefore be biased. We avoided this problem by diving at night on patch reefs in the Florida Keys (U.S.A.) to collect lobsters when they are most accessible and used mark-recapture methods to estimate their growth and size at maturity. Molt increment for lobsters greater than 50 mm CL was estimated to be 1.5 mm for females and 1.6 mm for males, while molt interval was 50.6 weeks for females and 50.0 weeks for males. Growth rate was calculated to be 0.02–0.37 mm CL/week depending on size and sex. On average, males grew faster than females, but the rate of growth decreased with increased size for both sexes. Female size at maturity was estimated at 32 mm CL, based on both the minimum size...

Growth and Size at Maturity in the Spotted Spiny Lobster, Panulirus Guttatus

Growth and Size at Maturity in the Spotted Spiny Lobster, Panulirus Guttatus

Life history of the spotted spiny lobster, Panulirus guttatus, an obligate reef-dweller

Population dynamics of the spotted spiny lobster, Panulirus guttatus, were examined at Looe Key Reef, Florida, USA, from April 1987 to August 1989. The 347 lobsters captured (including recaptures), ranged from 9 mm (puerulus) to 75 mm carapace length (X = 54 mm CL). Pueruli settled all year round into small holes along the underside of the reef. All lobsters recaptured were found at the site of their initial capture; one was captured four times, all on the same reef spur, over 762 days. Adults sheltered within the reef during the day and foraged on top of the reef at night. Males and females were captured in equal proportions (1.2 M:1 F) from den entrances during the day; females were numerically dominant on foraging grounds at night (3 F:1 M). Reproduction occurred all year round but peaked between March and June; minimum size at maturity was 38 mm CL for females and 48 mm CL for males. The sheltering behaviour of P. guttatus, typically found on the ceiling of dens, contrasted markedly with that of the sympatric P. argus, typically found on the floor; both species used many of the same dens, but simultaneous co-occupancy was rare.

Field Studies of the Population Dynamics of the Spotted Spiny Lobster Panulirus guttatus (Latreille) at Bermuda

Results of a study on the population dynamics of the spotted spiny lobster Panulirus guttatus (Latreille) at Bermuda are described. The annual growth coefficients (K) for male and female spotted spiny lobsters P. guttatus are estimated at 0.22 and 0.16 from size frequency analyses. Annual total mortality, fishing mortality, natural mortality, and recruitment coefficients (Z, F, M, and R) for 1987 were estimated at 0.79, 0.46, 0.33, and 0.79, respectively, based on length and weight data and the exploitation rate (E = 0.58) was estimated from population weight data. The catchability coefficient (q) for 1987 was estimated at 3.9 X 10-6/ trap-haul from the estimate of F and the 1987 data for total effort. The stock size (N1987) of trappable P. guttatus lobsters at the start of calendar year 1987 was estimated at approximately 71 X 103 individuals from q and industry catch and effort data. The population showed marked spatial preference with the density at the reef crest an order of magnitude greater than in the reef system as a whole.