Effects of Drilling Muds on Behavior of the American Lobster, Homarus americanus, in Water Column and Substrate Exposures

1982 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 675-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelle Atema ◽  
Dale F. Leavitt ◽  
Diana E. Barshaw ◽  
M. Carmela Cuomo

Studies were conducted to explore the effects of drilling muds on various aspects of lobster behavior directly related to survival in the field. Toxicity of different drilling muds varied from immediately lethal to adult lobsters to apparently harmless to postlarval stages, with a variety of intermediate effects. Both the chemical toxicity in the water column and the physical effects of covering the substrate with drilling mud were studied, and both interfered with normal lobster behavior. The studies are mainly concerned with postlarval lobsters (stages IV and V), i.e. just after settling on the bottom. They were tested in 36-d chronic exposures (7 mg/L) and in seminatural aquaria with 1-mm layers of drilling mud covering the substrate. Toxicity in the water column manifested itself in feeding and molting delays, severe delays in shelter construction, increased walking and swimming, unprovoked tail flipping, and lethargy. A natural bay mud used as a control caused no such effects. Physical effects of substrate cover were apparent in experiments with 1-, 2-, and 4-mm layers of drilling mud and similar layers of a mixture of bentonite and barite covering a natural mud substrate. In depths of 4 mm both kinds of substrate cover caused severe delays in shelter construction and in quality of burrows constructed. Thus, substrates with 4-mm to perhaps as little as 1-mm covering of drilling mud may cause increased exposure of lobsters to predators and currents, resulting in the substrate becoming unsuitable for lobster settling and survival.Key words: drilling muds, lobster, behavior, toxicity, shelter construction, molting, feeding, survival

1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles D. Derby ◽  
Jelle Atema

The effects of whole drilling muds on the normal activity of walking leg chemosensory neurons of the lobster, Homarus americanus, were examined using extracellular neurophysiological recording techniques. Exposure of legs for 3–5 min to 10 mg/L drilling mud suspended in seawater altered responses to food odors of 29% of the chemoreceptors examined (data pooled for the two drilling muds tested); similar exposure to 100 mg/L drilling mud resulted in interference with 44% of all receptors studied. The effects of both of these concentrations are statistically significant, although they are not different from each other. Interference was usually manifested as a marked reduction in the number of action potentials in a response. In one preparation, the exposure to drilling mud caused a change in the temporal pattern of the spikes without affecting the total number of spikes. Other chemosensory neurons were excited by 10 mg/L drilling mud itself. However, not all chemoreceptors are inhibited by these drilling muds since responses to feeding stimuli were recorded from the legs of lobsters that had been exposed to drilling mud for 4–8 d before the neurophysiological experiments.Antennular and leg chemoreceptors are important in eliciting normal feeding behavior in lobsters. Although behavioral assays have demonstrated that feeding behavior is altered following exposure to drilling muds and petroleum fractions, there is no conclusive proof for a causal relationship between chemoreceptor interference and behavioral deficits. The two techniques complement each other as pollution detection assays, perhaps reflecting a common interference mechanism.Key words: chemoreception, drilling mud, feeding behavior, lobster, pollution, neurophysiology


2009 ◽  
Vol 57 (9) ◽  
pp. 3645-3652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Barrento ◽  
António Marques ◽  
Bárbara Teixeira ◽  
Paulo Vaz-Pires ◽  
Maria Leonor Nunes

2016 ◽  
Vol 557 ◽  
pp. 177-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
MD McMahan ◽  
DF Cowan ◽  
Y Chen ◽  
GD Sherwood ◽  
JH Grabowski

2020 ◽  
Vol 641 ◽  
pp. 159-175
Author(s):  
J Runnebaum ◽  
KR Tanaka ◽  
L Guan ◽  
J Cao ◽  
L O’Brien ◽  
...  

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.


Author(s):  
Ariane Tremblay ◽  
Ronan Corcuff ◽  
Charles Goulet ◽  
Samuel B. Godefroy ◽  
Alain Doyen ◽  
...  

1997 ◽  
Vol 217 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Vye ◽  
J.S. Cobb ◽  
T. Bradley ◽  
J. Gabbay ◽  
A. Genizi ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document