Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
JOURNAL OF SHELLFISH RESEARCH IVOLUME 30, NUMBER 2 AUGUST 2011 I iVational Shellfisheries Association, Baltimore, Maryland cultured products all suggest that blue crab aquaculture for softshell and bait production would be an economically viable enterprise. Use of hatchery-reared blue crabs would allow for fishery development independent of Mid stocks. "OILY" DROPLETS ASSOCIATED WITH BLUE CRAB MEGALOPAE COLLECTED IN THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO Harriet Perry \ Thomas VanDevender 1, Robert Trigg 1, Amy Meyers 2 1 Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, MS, 39564, USA. 2 McSwain Engineering, Inc., 3320 McLemore Drive, Pensacola, FL, USA. The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, has planktotrophic larval development with seven zoeal molts and the metamorphic molt to the megalopal (postlarval) stage occurring in offshore waters. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill coincided with the spawning of blue crabs in the northern Gulf of Mexico and movement of megalopae from offshore waters to inshore estuarine environments. Blue crab megalopae, along with early life history stages of other invertebrates, were sampled on passive collectors positioned along the coastline. Megalopae collected in May in Louisiana waters contained unusual "oily-appearing" droplets wedged between the exoskeleton of the cephalothorax and the inne~ integument. These droplets were not observed in blue crab megalopae during eleven years of extensive monitoring of blue crab early life history stages by personnel of the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory. Additional collections of blue crab megalopae from Florida to Louisiana and larvaefpostlarvae of other brachyuran crabs, polychaetes, and barnacles also contained similar droplets. Analyses are being conducted to determine the precise composition and origin of the droplets using an open-beam mass spectrometer (JEOL AccuTOFTh< DART® Direct Analysis in Real Time with Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer). Results of these analyses will be discussed. \ OYSTER RESPONSES TO THE DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL ACROSS COASTAL LOUISIANA: EXAMINING OYSTER HEALTH AND HYDROCARBON BIO-ACCUMULATJON. Jerome La Peyre 1, Sandra Casas 1, Scott Miles 2 • 1 Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, LA. 70803, USA. 2 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA. The eastern oyster ( Crassostrea virginica) is a major component of the Gulf Coast seafood industry, especially in Louisiana, and is also a vital constituent of estuarine environments. Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in oil pose a risk to filterfeeding bivalves such as oysters, which can effectively take up and accumulate these toxic substances. PAHs can have a wide range of deleterious effects on oysters from sub-lethal effects that include Abstracts, 103rct Annual Meeting, March 27-31, 2011 543 reductions in growth, impaired immunocompetence, increased susceptibility to dermo disease caused by the oyster pathogen Perkinsus marinus, decreased reproductive capability, to death. To assess the consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on oyster populations in Louisiana, the overall health and PAH concentrations of caged and wild oysters sampled pre-spill and at 3 and 9 months after oil exposure are being assessed. Specifically, using a number of biomarkers we are conducting a spatial and seasonal investigation of the oysters' health, nutritional, reproductive and immunological status in relation to their body total hydrocarbon and PAHs concentrations in oiled and non-oiled sites. This work is funded by the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program. MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASES AND HEMOCYTE MIGRATION IN THE EASTERN OYSTER, CRASSOSTREA VIRGIN/CA. Jessica L. Piesz, Marta GOmez-Chiarri. University of Rhode Island, 120 Flagg Rd, CBLS 170, Kingston, RI, 02881, USA. The mechanisms governing hemocyte migration in invertebrate defense are poorly understood. In mammals, migration is mediated by a family of zinc-dependent pro teases called matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). These pro teases .break down components of the extracellular matrix allowing cells to migrate through tissues. One MMP, CvlMMP, has been identified to be upregulated in hemocytes of the Eastern oyster and is localized at the leading edge of migration in cells migrating through digestive tissues during feeding. These findings suggest that CvlMMP may play a role in hemocyte migration. The effect of the metalloproteinase inhibitor GM600 1 on hemocyte migration in response to immune stimuli like zymosan A from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and heat-killed and live Vibrio tubiashii isolate RE22 was tested using a,96-well chemotaxis chamber. Data showed there were a differential response in the migration of hyalinocytes and granulocytes to zymosan A and RE22, with hyalinocytes preferentially migrating in response to zymosan A and granulocytes preferentially responding to bacterial products. The migration of hemocytes pre-treated with GM6001 was reduced compared to controls. These results suggest that matrix metalloproteinases are involved in hemocyte migration in oysters. This research provides valuable insight into oyster immunity that could aid in developing str8.tegies to manage disease. GENOME-WIDE ANALYSIS OF INBREEDING DEPRESSION IN THE PACIFIC OYSTER CRASSOSTREA GIGAS, USING A QTL MAPPING APPROACH. Louis Plough, Dennis Hedgecock. University of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, AHF 107, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA. Discovery of a large number o'f deleterious recessive mutations (genetic load) in ihe Pacific oyster explains distorted segregation ratios, seen widely in bivalves, and supports the dominance theory