The Ecological Ramifications of Disease and Density in the Caribbean Spiny Lobster, \u3ci\u3ePanulirus argus\u3c/i\u3e

In 1999, I discovered the first virus known to be pathogenic to any species of lobster. HLV-PA is a pathogenic herpes-like virus that infects juvenile Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, in the waters off south Florida (USA), and it alters the behavior and ecology of this species in fundamental ways. Gross signs of HLV-PA infection are lethargy, morbidity, cessation of molting, and discolored, “milky” hemolymph that does not clot. HLV-PA infects the hemocytes of host lobsters, specifically the hyalinocytes and semi-granulocytes, but not the granulocytes. When hemolymph from infected donors was injected into healthy juvenile lobsters, 90% of the healthy individuals became infected within 80 days. In another set of laboratory trials, 40% of the juvenile lobsters that ingested conspecific tissue infected with HLV-PA developed the disease, and in a third experiment wherein transmission by contact or waterborne means was tested, 63% of the lobsters(CL), 33% of lobsters 30–40 mm CL and 10% of lobsters 40–50 mm CL became infected within 80 days. In field surveys from 2000–2001, up to 40% of the juveniles at each of twelve sites (mean = 8%) had the disease. The disease was most prevalent (mean = 16%) among the smallest juveniles (i.e.,CL) and, thus far, appears limited to juveniles. However, all of the surveys of disease prevalence are based on gross, visual signs of late stages of infection, and are, therefore, conservative estimates. A diagnostic tool to assess infection at earlier stages has not yet been developed. Field observations and laboratory experiments indicate that healthy juvenile lobsters avoid diseased conspecifics, which is only the second report of such behavior in any animal. The prevalence of the disease in wild lobster populations is not correlated with population density, even when lobsters were experimentally concentrated at sites with artificial shelters. Moreover, enhanced density does not appear to have a detrimental effect on population dynamics such as nutritional condition and short-term residency, likely due to their normal gregariousness. Thus, juvenile spiny lobsters appear to have developed remarkable contradictory behaviors, avoidance of infected conspecifics and gregariousness, both of which may ultimately enhance survival of uninfected lobsters

A New Pathogenic Virus in the Caribbean Spiny Lobster Panulirus argus from the Florida Keys

A pathogenic virus was diagnosed from juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters Panulirus argus from the Florida Keys. Moribund lobsters had characteristically milky hemolymph that did not clot. Altered hyalinocytes and semigranulocytes, but not granulocytes, were observed with light microscopy. Infected hemocytes had emarginated, condensed chromatin, hypertrophied nuclei and faint eosinophilic Cowdry-type-A inclusions. In some cases, infected cells were observed in soft connective tissues. With electron microscopy, unenveloped, nonoccluded, icosahedral virions (182 +/- 9 nm SD) were diffusely spread around the inner periphery of the nuclear envelope. Virions also occurred in loose aggregates in the cytoplasm or were free in the hemolymph. Assembly of the nucleocapsid occurred entirely within the nucleus of the infected cells. Within the virogenic stroma, blunt rod-like structures or whorls of electron-dense granular material were apparently associated with viral assembly. The prevalence of overt infections, defined as lethargic animals with milky hemolymph, ranged from 6 to 8 % with certain foci reaching prevalences of 37 %. The disease was transmissible to uninfected lobsters using inoculations of raw hemolymph from infected animals. Inoculated animals became moribund 5 to 7 d before dying and they began dying after 30 to 80 d post-exposure. The new virus is apparently widespread, infectious, and lethal to the Caribbean spiny lobster. Given the pathogenic nature of the virus, further characterization of the disease agent is warranted

Casitas: A Location-Dependent Ecological Trap for Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobsters, Panulirus argus

Casitas are artificial shelters used by fishers to aggregate Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) for ease of capture. However, casitas may function as an ecological trap for juvenile lobsters if they are attracted to casitas and their growth or mortality is poorer compared with natural shelters. We hypothesized that juvenile lobsters may be at particular risk if attracted to casitas because they are less able than larger individuals to defend themselves, and do not forage far from shelter. We compared the nutritional condition, relative mortality, and activity of lobsters of various sizes in casitas and natural shelters in adult and juvenile lobster-dominated habitats in the Florida Keys (United States). We found that the ecological effects of casitas are complex and location-dependent. Lobsters collected from casitas and natural shelters did not differ in nutritional condition. However, juvenile lobsters in casitas experienced higher rates of mortality than did individuals in natural shelters; the mortality of large lobsters did not differ between casitas and natural shelters. Thus, casitas only function as ecological traps when deployed in nursery habitats where juvenile lobsters are lured by conspecifics to casitas where their risk of predation is higher. These results highlight the importance of accounting for animal size and location-dependent effects when considering the consequences of habitat modification for fisheries enhancement

A Review of the Lethal Spiny Lobster Virus PaV1 - Ten Years After Its Discovery

In 1999, we discovered that juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) in the Florida Keys were infected with PaV1 (Panulirus argus virus 1), the first naturally occurring pathogenic virus reported from lobsters. The virus profoundly affects their biology and ecology. PaV1 is probably wide-spread in the Caribbean with confirmed infections from the United States (Florida), St Croix, Mexico, and Belize; and anecdotal reports from the Bahamas and Cuba. Mean prevalence in the Florida Keys has been stable since 1999 (5 - 8%), but has risen from 2.7% to 10.9% in Mexico (Puerto Morelos), the only other country where it has been studied extensively. The disease is most prevalent (\u3e 15%) in the smallest juveniles lobsters (\u3c 20 mm carapace length) and declines in prevalence among larger juveniles and adults. Although adults do not present the characteristic signs of this disease, they can harbor the virus with PCR-confirmed infections of adult, fishery-caught lobsters of 11 and 50% in Florida and Belize, respectively. The virus is lethal; infected lobsters die over one to several months with more rapid mortality for small juveniles. Infected lobsters become increasingly sedentary and cease feeding, often dying of metabolic exhaustion. Routes of viral transmission include ingestion, contact, and for early benthic juveniles, transmission through seawater over a few meters. Recent studies show that PaV1 is not viable in seawater for more than a few days, but larvae and postlarvae can be carriers over potentially long distances. Lobster ecology is dramatically altered during the course of infection. Prior to infectiousness, healthy lobsters avoid diseased lobsters, presumably reducing their risk of infection and resulting in infected juvenile lobsters dwelling alone rather than in groups. Avoidance results in increased shelter competition between healthy and diseased lobsters, with greater predation on the increasingly lethargic and solitary infected lobsters. Little is known about the prevalence or impact of PaV1 outside of Mexico and the United States, but the disease threatens fisheries throughout the pan-Caribbean range of P. argus. Marine diseases are emerging at an accelerated rate and the tools and knowledge that we develop through the study of diseases such as PaV1 will be invaluable in addressing future epizootics

Disease Effects on Lobster Fisheries, Ecology, and Culture: Overview of DAO Special 6

Lobsters are prized by commercial and recreational fishermen worldwide, and their populations are therefore buffeted by fishery practices. But lobsters also remain integral members of their benthic communities where predator-prey relationships, competitive interactions, and host-pathogen dynamics push and pull at their population dynamics. Although lobsters have few reported pathogens and parasites relative to other decapod crustaceans, the rise of diseases with consequences for lobster fisheries and aquaculture has spotlighted the importance of disease for lobster biology, population dynamics and ecology. Researchers, managers, and fishers thus increasingly recognize the need to understand lobster pathogens and parasites so they can be managed proactively and their impacts minimized where possible. At the 2011 International Conference and Workshop on Lobster Biology and Management a special session on lobster diseases was convened and this special issue of Diseases of Aquatic Organisms highlights those proceedings with a suite of articles focused on diseases discussed during that session

A new member of the Nudiviridae from the Florida stone crab (Menippe mercenaria)

Menippe mercenaria, the Florida stone crab, supports an unconventional fishery across the southern USA and Caribbean that involves claw-removal and the return of de-clawed animals to the sea. We provide pathological, ultrastructural, and genomic detail for a novel hepatopancreatic, nucleus-specific virus - Menippe mercenaria nudivirus (MmNV) - isolated from M. mercenaria, captured during fisheries-independent monitoring. The virus has a genome of 99,336 bp and encodes 84 predicted protein coding genes and shows greatest similarity to Aratus pisonii nudivirus (ApNV) (&lt;60% protein similarity and 31 shared genes of greatest similarity), collected from the Florida Keys, USA. MmNV is a member of the Gammanudivirus genus (Naldaviricetes: Lefavirales: Nudiviridae). Comparisons of virus genome size, preferred host environment, and gene number revealed no clear associations between the viral traits and phylogenetic position. Evolution of the virus alongside the diversification of host taxa, with the potential for host-switching, remain more likely evolutionary pathways.</p

Ontogenetic Shifts in Resource Allocation: Colour Change and Allometric Growth of Defensive and Reproductive Structures in the Caribbean Spiny Lobster Panulirus argus

Resource allocation theory predicts a disproportionately large allocation of resources to defensive structures during early ontogeny in organisms that are subject to more intense predation at smaller than at larger body sizes. We tested this prediction on the Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus, which exhibits a negative relationship between predation risk and body size with a high natural mortality of smaller individuals. Independent allometric growth analyses demonstrated that numerous defensive structures (e.g. orbital horns, segments supporting the antenna, the tail fan) display negative allometric growth throughout ontogeny. We interpret these findings as lobsters investing disproportionately more resources to defensive structures when small to improve survivorship. Similarly, we observed an ontogenetic shift in lobster colour pattern; small individuals (\u3c23mm carapace length) that inhabit nursery grounds (preferably among red algae) displayed a disruptive pattern (camouflage), whereas larger juveniles displayed a bicolour pigmentation typical of adult lobsters. This shift in colour pattern further suggests that small lobsters employ cryptic coloration throughout their asocial algal stage. However, this cryptic coloration offers no advantage when lobsters grow larger and start dwelling in crevices. Other structures linked to reproduction (e.g. female pleopods and male pereopods) experienced either isometric or positive allometric growth throughout ontogeny. Our results support one of the main predictions of resource allocation theory and demonstrate ontogenetic shifts in defensive structures and coloration concomitantly with changes in lobster mortality risk mediated by size-dependent predation risk. © 2012 The Linnean Society of Londo

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