Bricknell, Ian

Cook, Paul

Dunn, John

Kilburn, Rachel

Matejusova, Iveta

Pert, Campbell

English

University of Maine

The University of MaineDigitalCommons@UMaineScientific Articles PublicationsWinter 2-14-2010Design and application of a portable, automatedplankton sampler for the capture of the parasiticcopepods Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Krøyer 1837)and Caligus elongatus (Von Nordmann 1832)Ian BricknellUniversity of Maine - Main, ian.bricknell@umit.maine.eduRachel Kilburnr.kilburn@marlab.ac.ukPaul CookCampbell PertJohn DunnSee next page for additional authorsFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ari_articlesThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Scientific Articles by anauthorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact um.library.technical.services@maine.edu.Repository CitationBricknell, Ian; Kilburn, Rachel; Cook, Paul; Pert, Campbell; Dunn, John; and Matejusova, Iveta, "Design and application of a portable,automated plankton sampler for the capture of the parasitic copepods Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Krøyer 1837) and Caligus elongatus(Von Nordmann 1832)" (2010). Scientific Articles. 8.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ari_articles/8AuthorsIan Bricknell, Rachel Kilburn, Paul Cook, Campbell Pert, John Dunn, and Iveta MatejusovaThis article is available at DigitalCommons@UMaine: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ari_articles/8SHORT COMMUNICATIONDesign and application of a portable,automated plankton sampler for thecapture of the parasitic copepodsLepeophtheirus salmonis (Krøyer 1837) andCaligus elongatus (Von Nordmann 1832)RACHELKILBURN1*, IAN R.BRICKNELL2, PAULCOOK1, CAMPBELL C.PERT1, JOHNDUNN1 AND IVETAMATEJUSOVA11MARINE SCOTLAND MARINE LABORATORY, VICTORIA ROAD, PO BOX 101, ABERDEEN AB11 9DB, UK AND 2SCHOOL OF MARINE SCIENCES, UNIVERSITYOF MAINE, ORONO, ME 04469-5735, USA*CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: r.kilburn@marlab.ac.ukReceived July 1, 2009; accepted in principle January 19, 2010; accepted for publication February 14, 2010Corresponding editor: Roger HarrisA battery-operated submersible pump sampler was designed for the collection ofthe parasitic marine copepods Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus from LochShieldaig on the West Coast of Scotland. Results are given of testing andcalibration in situ.KEYWORDS: automated plankton sampler; sea lice; zooplanktonThe salmon louse, Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Krøyer, 1837),is a pathogenic ectoparasitic copepod of marine salmo-nid fish, with other non-salmonid species of fish actingas possible peripatetic hosts (Pert et al., 2006, 2009;Jones et al., 2006). Other sea lice species of the genusCaligus, such as Caligus elongatus (Von Nordmann, 1832),are also important parasites of farmed salmonids;however, their host range is reported to be wider thanthat of L. salmonis (Kabata, 1979).The life cycle of L. salmonis and C. elongatus is a directone requiring no intermediate host and includes twofree-swimming “nauplius” stages that are dispersed inthe plankton followed by an infective “copepodid”stage. Following settlement on the host, the copepodidmoults into the “chalimus” phase that comprises fourstages. After the fourth chalimus stage of L. salmonis, twomobile “pre-adult” stages precede the definitive moultto the adult male or female. There is no “pre-adult”stage in the life cycle of C. elongatus.The planktonic stages are critical for allowing lice toinfect new hosts (Johnston and Albright, 1991).Gathering data on the distribution of the planktonicstages of L. salmonis and C. elongatus in the field, coupledwith information on local environmental conditionsfrom the same time point, is important to improve theunderstanding and modelling of the epidemiology anddistribution of these species.Obtaining viable and specific plankton samples frommarine and freshwater environments is a technicalproblem for researchers (Waite and O’Grady, 1979).doi:10.1093/plankt/fbq023, available online at www.plankt.oxfordjournals.org. Advance Access publication March 11, 2010# Crown copyright 2010JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH j VOLUME 32 j NUMBER 6 j PAGES 967–970 j 2010 at University of Maine on July 16, 2015http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/Downloaded from One such system of obtaining reliable samples isthrough the use of pump-based plankton samplers(Waite and O’Grady, 1979). These systems have gainedpopularity in recent years, owing to the simplicity oftheir operation and the precision and accuracy of theinstrumentation (Nayer et al., 2002).In this note, we describe the development anddeployment of a new submersible automated planktonsampler designed for the capture of the parasitic cope-pods L. salmonis and C. elongatus. The plankton samplerswere deployed alongside sentinel cages (Pert et al., 2008)holding Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in Loch Shieldaig(Fig. 1). Loch Shieldaig is one of three basins makingup the Loch Torridon (578350000 N, 58460000 W) sea lochsystem on the north-west coast of Scotland. The aimsfor the new submersible automated plankton samplerdesign were as follows:(i) to achieve a lightweight design to maximize easeof deployment;(ii) to incorporate pump, power source and encasedplankton net within a single submersible unit;(iii) to develop a sampler that is easy to service andmaintain in field conditions;(iv) to create a basic design that can be readilymodified for a variety of specific samplingrequirements.The submersible automated plankton sampler wasdeveloped at the Marine Scotland (Science) MarineLaboratory, Aberdeen, Scotland (Fig. 2), and was amodification of a ballast water sampling system(McCollin et al., 2008). The pump for the planktonsampler was an Attwoodw WaterBusterw cordless waterPumpTM powered by three D cell alkaline batteries.The pump was adapted for connection to a planktonnet chamber and without batteries weighed 3 kg. Theinternal diameter of the inlet was 3.5 cm with a totalarea of 9.6 cm2. To optimize plankton capture and toreduce the chance of escape of the target species, twocod ends, an inner cod end 17.5 cm and an outer codend at 32 cm (mesh size 68–200 mm), were held withinthe net chamber. A coarse strainer at the inlet of theplankton sampler was developed to prevent debris andother materials (e.g. jelly fish) clogging the system. Acalibration test was carried out to determine the meandischarge capacity (m3) of the Attwoodw WaterBusterwpump when attached to the plankton sampler. Thefiltration ratio (mesh aperture to mouth area) was 10:1.The plankton sampler was suspended at a depth of1 m by attachment to a dhan buoy situated 10 mfrom the sentinel fish cages. The plankton samplerswere held vertically with a small weight in the water ata depth of 1 m below the surface and run for twoperiods of 3.5 h separated by one battery change. TheFig. 1. The Loch Shieldaig study site with the three sentinel cages (filled triangle, cages 1, 2 and 3) locations, MS field station/fishtrap(Shieldaig Field Station) and marine aquaculture sites (filled square, farms I and II) marked.JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH j VOLUME 32 j NUMBER 6 j PAGES 967–970 j 2010968 at University of Maine on July 16, 2015http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/Downloaded from captured plankton were then stored in 70% ethanol andreturned to the Marine Laboratory for the detection ofL. salmonis and C. elongatus through real-time PCR assaydeveloped by McBeath et al. (McBeath et al., 2006).The mean output with one set of three D cell batteriesrunning for 5 h was 2.5 m3 (SD 0.04 m3) of water. Themaximum pumping was 0.2 L s21 (mean 0.18 L s21, SD0.01 L, n ¼ 3). Taking into account the internal diam-eter, the fluid velocity was 0.208 ms21 at the inlet.During the study period, the plankton sampler collected172 plankton samples, 25 of which were positivethrough real-time PCR for the presence of L. salmonis.Caligus elongatus was not detected through real-time PCR.The submersible automated plankton samplerdescribed herein has proved to be a very reliable andeasy to operate sampling apparatus for sampling of zoo-plankton, in particular the sea louse L. salmonis, over42 months of field-testing.The disadvantages of conventional sampling methodsfor zooplankton collection include the destruction oflarger animals, size selectivity, time required to collectthe samples (Omori and Ikeda, 1984) and clogging ofplankton nets lowering the filtration efficiency (Smithet al., 1968). The advantages of sampling zooplanktonwith pumps in marine systems over towed nets includereliable measurements of filtered water volume, depthcontrol and control of the filtering process with thepossible use of several mesh sizes (Miller and Judkins,1981; Dixon and Robertson, 1986).The flexibility of the apparatus described in this noteallows the option of changing the mesh sizes of the codends, making it ideal for the collection and study ofother organisms that are dispersed in the plankton, e.g.the larvae of barnacles and bivalve molluscs. As theseplankton samplers are low cost, a number of planktontraps could be deployed to sample zooplankton at dis-crete depth zones at different sites. This could be anapproach to allow researchers to explore the spatial vari-ation of L. salmonis and C. elongatus in the water column.Hence for stationary sampling, the submersibleplankton sampler described in this note is light weight,inexpensive to develop, can be easily operated from apier, boat, dhan buoy or other fixed structure in thewater and can be easily modified for the collection ofother animals with a planktonic dispersal from coastalmarine and freshwater habitats.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe authors would like to thank Kenny Livingston andDavy from HMMV “Fram” for their assistants inFig. 2. Plankton pump design and apparatus.R. KILBURN ET AL. j DESIGN OFAUTOMATED PLANKTON SAMPLER969 at University of Maine on July 16, 2015http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/Downloaded from deploying the plankton samplers from their boat “Fram”.We would also like to thank Jim Raffell, Stephen Buttleand Adrian Moys from the Marine Scotland Fresh WaterLaboratory field station at Shieldaig, Brian Ritchie for thedesign of the plankton pump diagram, Neil Collie for theplankton pump calibration, Sandy Murray, MichaelPenston, Tracy McCollin and Kathryn Cook fromMarine Scotland Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen, for com-ments on an early draft.REFERENCESDixon, P. and Robertson, A. I. (1986) A compact, self-contained zoo-plankton pump for use in shallow coastal habitats: design and per-formance compared to net samples. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 32,97–100.Jones, S. R. M., Prosperi-Porta, G., Kim, E. et al. (2006) The occur-rence of Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus clemensi (Copepoda:Caligidae) on three-spine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus in coastalBritish Columbia. J. Parasitol., 92, 473–480.Johnston, S. C. and Albright, L. J. (1991) Development, growth andsurvival of Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Copepoda: Caligidae) under lab-oratory conditions. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. UK, 71, 425–436.Kabata, Z. (1979) Parasitic Copepoda of British Fishes. The Ray Society,London, UK.McBeath, A. J. A., Penston, M. J., Snow, M. et al. (2006) Developmentand application of real-time PCR for specific detection ofLepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus larvae in Scottish planktonsamples. Dis. Aquat. Org., 73, 141–150.McCollin, T., Shanks, A. M. and Dunn, J. (2008) Changes inZooplankton abundance and diversity after ballast water exchangein regional seas. Mar. Poll. Bull., 56, 834–844.Miller, C. D. and Judkins, D. C. (1981) Design of pumping system forsampling zooplankton with descriptions of two high-capacity sam-plers for coastal studies. Biol. Oceanogr., 1, 29–56.Nayer, S., Goh, B. P. L. and Chou, L. M. (2002) A portable, low cost,multipurpose, surface-subsurface plankton sampler. J. Plankton Res.,24, 1097–1105.Omori, M. and Ikeda, T. (1984) Methods in Marine Zooplankton Ecology.Wiley-Interscience, New York, 311 pp.Pert, C. C., Urquhart, K. and Bricknell, I. R. (2006) The sea bass(Dicentrarchus labrax L): a peripatetic host of Lepeophtheirus salmonis(Copepoda: Caligidae). Bull. Eur. Assoc. Fish Pathol., 26, 163–165.Pert, C. C., Kilburn, R., Cook, P. et al. (2008) Monitoring the infectionpressure from sea lice on wild salmonids in a Scottish West coastsea loch. The 10th International Conference on Copepoda,Thailand, 2008, p. 77.Pert, C. C., Mordue, Luntz, A. J. et al. (2009) The settlement and sur-vival of the salmon louse, Lepeophtheirus salmonis, on atypical host.Aquaculture, 288, 321–324.Smith, P. E., Counts, R. C. and Clutter, R. I. (1968) Changes in filter-ing efficiency of plankton due to clogging under tow. J. du Conseil.,32, 23–248.Waite, S. W. and O’Grady, S. M. (1979) Description of a new sub-mersible filter pump apparatus for sampling plankton. Hydrobiologia,74, 187–191.JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH j VOLUME 32 j NUMBER 6 j PAGES 967–970 j 2010970 at University of Maine on July 16, 2015http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/Downloaded from 

Design and application of a portable, automated plankton sampler for the capture of the parasitic copepods Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Krøyer 1837) and Caligus elongatus (Von Nordmann 1832)

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&amp;context=ari_articles

Design and application of a portable, automated plankton sampler for the capture of the parasitic copepods Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Krøyer 1837) and Caligus elongatus (Von Nordmann 1832)

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

University of Maine