Oocyte Maturation and Spawning in Wild American Lobsters (Homarus americanus): Lack of Evidence for Significant Regulation by Photoperiod

1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 1451-1453 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Aiken ◽  
S. L. Waddy

The literature indicates that spawning in the American lobster (Homarus americanus) requires exposure to short days followed by long days, but our previous experiments with mature female lobsters showed no such requirement. To reevaluate the reported photoperiod requirement and to determine whether a photoperiod stimulus for ovarian maturation might occur well before the current spawning season, we held wild-caught mature Gulf of St. Lawrence females on either long (LD 16:8) or short (LD 1:23) days starting at the autumnal equinox. Females held on both short and long days spawned at the normal time the following July, indicating no effect of photoperiod even 10 mo before normal spawning time. This study extends previous work by showing that Gulf of St. Lawrence lobsters held on typical East Coast seawater temperatures will spawn at the normal time without being exposed to either short-day or long-day photoperiod between 22 September and the following July.

1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Aiken ◽  
S. L. Waddy

Various studies have yielded conflicting information on the role of photoperiod in the regulation of spawning by the American lobster (Homarus americanus). Some have indicated a requirement for short days followed by long days, while others have suggested that there is no photoperiod requirement. To resolve the question of photoperiod control, we exposed mature female lobsters to various combinations of temperature and photoperiod for 1 yr starting in December and found that there was no requirement for spring photoperiod under local winter seawater temperature (0–5 °C, but when winter seawater temperature was maintained at 10–17 °C, spawning came under the influence of spring photoperiod. It therefore appears that vitellogenesis and spawning of nearshore lobster populations are normally regulated by seasonal seawater temperature but that photoperiod can assume a regulatory role if the winter seawater temperature remains abnormally high.


1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 805-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Nelson ◽  
D. Hedgecock ◽  
W. Borgeson

American lobster (Homarus americanus) females characteristically extrude eggs (E) in the summer of the year following a summer or autumn molt (M), but young females may extrude in the same year. The subsequent M is delayed until after hatching, resulting in the former case in a 2-yr reproductive molt cycle, measuring from M to M. Adult female lobsters were exposed to periods of short days (8 h light: 16 h dark) followed by long day onset (L) (16 h light: 8 h dark) at different times with respect to M, or as controls were kept under continuous long-day conditions. In this way were generated molt cycles with delayed or undelayed extrusions, as well as ones with incomplete vitellogeneses resulting from too-long delayed L, and molt cycles in which vitrellogenesis did not begin (control group). Delayed L results in delayed E and M, as measured either in days or in day-degrees above 6 °C. An incompleted vitellogenesis following a too-long delayed L changes neither the duration of the molt cycle nor its characteristic positive correlation with female size; the duration of molt cycles containing either delayed or undelayed E appears in contrast to become independent of size. Intermolt intervals following prior E are shorter than those following anovulatory cycles. Retention of the clutch to hatching is associated with an additional increment to the intermolt interval. The results suggest that following E, a "reproductive" program replaces the "somatic" program of control of molt cycle duration. Incompleted vitellogeneses are associated with significantly smaller molt increments and growth rates than in the evidently avitellogenic continuous long-day control group, even though intermolt duration and its relation to size remain the same. Growth rates of molt cycles containing incompleted vitellogeneses are significantly higher than ones containing E only if that is delayed. Differential dependence of molt cycle duration and growth rate measures upon size and temperature indicate that molting and growth are distinct and rather independently controlled processes in adult lobsters, however tightly linked they may be in juveniles. Implications for molting and reproduction in the natural environment are discussed.


1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 797-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Nelson ◽  
D. Hedgecock ◽  
W. Borgeson

American lobster (Homarus americanus) females characteristically extrude eggs in the summer of the year following a summer or autumn molt, but young females may extrude in the same year. Adult female lobsters were exposed to periods of 40, 80, or 120 d of short photophase (8 h light: 16 h dark) at different times during the molt cycle or as controls were kept under continuous long-day conditions (16 h light: 8 h dark). They were found to require 80 d of short photophase to complete primary vitellogenesis; they then completed secondary vitellogenesis and extruded following long day onset (LDO) only if the latter fell within ± 1400 dd6 (day-degrees above 6 °C) of the molt. The dependence of this latter relationship upon prior delayed extrusion and molting suggests that the decay in probability of LDO-elicited extrusion following the molt proceeds independently of the advance of the current molt cycle. The hypothesis is therefore rejected that the decay in extrusion potential following the molt is a result of increasing probability of interference from the oncoming premolt. Alternative hypotheses are discussed.


1991 ◽  
Vol 48 (11) ◽  
pp. 2073-2082 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Campbell ◽  
D. J. Noakes ◽  
R. W. Elner

Commercial landings of American lobster (Homarus americanus) have increased dramatically in many areas along the east coast of Canada since the late 1970's. Average annual sea surface temperatures (SST) were analysed to test if lobster landings were related to changes in the marine environment. Time series models were fitted to lobster landings and SST data from Maine (USA), Halifax County (Nova Scotia), and Charlotte County (New Brunswick). Including temperature in the models improved forecasting ability for lobster catches for Maine and Halifax but not Charlotte. In Maine, lobster landings in year t were related to SST in year t. In Halifax, however, landings were related to SST in the previous 4 yr but not by SST of the current year. Lower fishing effort levels for Halifax compared with Maine probably extended the yield from strong year-classes through a number of years. We surmise that an increase in sea temperature near Halifax during the early 1980's increased the survival and growth rates of lobster juveniles. This provided a strong pulse of recruits to the fishery throughout coastal Nova Scotia during the mid- to late 1980's. Similar increases in temperature and landings were not observed for Maine and Charlotte.


1970 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1371-1378 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. McLeese

Of 17 amino acids and other organic compounds tested at high concentration, 13 elicited feeding and walking responses in lobsters significantly greater than those elicited by seawater controls, but only 7 of 29 were stimulatory at low concentrations (alanine, beta alanine, glutamic acid, proline, succinic and malic acids, and tyrosine). Fourteen of 15 mixtures of 2–9 amino acids were stimulatory. There may have been potentiation in mixtures with cysteine HCl, lysine, glycine HCl, and methionine and antagonism in some with alanine and arginine. Freshly prepared seawater extracts of cod, shrimp, and lobster muscle were more stimulatory than any of the compounds or mixtures.Male lobsters responded more frequently to water from a tank with a recently moulted mature female lobster than to water from a tank with a nonmoulted mature female or a moulted or a nonmoulted male. It is possible that moulted females release a sex attractant (pheromone).


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 ◽  
...  

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