Register      Login
Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > MF > MF08244
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 60(8)

Spatial and temporal variation in lipid and fatty acid profiles of western rock lobster pueruli at first settlement: biochemical indicators of diet and nutritional status

A. J. Limbourn A B E , R. C. Babcock B , D. J. Johnston C , P. D. Nichols D and B. Knott A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.

B CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Wealth from Oceans Flagship, Private Bag No. 5, Wembley, Perth, WA 6913, Australia.

C Western Australian Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratories, PO Box 20, North Beach, Perth, WA 6920, Australia.

D CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Food Futures Flagship, GPO Box 1538, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Email: andrew.limbourn@gmail.com

Marine and Freshwater Research 60(8) 810-823 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF08244
Submitted: 26 August 2008  Accepted: 1 January 2009   Published: 27 August 2009

Abstract

Rock lobster species are found worldwide and have a life history that includes development through a planktonic phyllosoma followed by a nektonic non-feeding puerulus that relies on stored energy during recruitment into near-shore habitats. Recruitment to adult populations of western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) is highly variable and is likely to be strongly influenced by shelf width and oceanic conditions affecting cross-shelf transport and nutrition. Since the nutritional status of newly settled pueruli will reflect the phyllosoma feeding environment and distance swum, we studied levels of lipid, fatty acid (FA) and protein of 422 pueruli and 79 first instar juveniles from four Western Australian locations. Lipid levels generally were inversely related to shelf width but were variable, suggesting pueruli may travel complex trajectories to coastal settlement. Lipid and FA composition of pueruli were consistent with spatial and seasonal variation in Leeuwin Current and coastal productivity regimes. Seasonal differences in FA composition occurred regardless of the year of settlement. Pueruli had lower lipid levels during ENSO years, when recruitment tends to be lower also. Measures of puerulus nutritional status appear to provide valuable insights into the processes underpinning recruitment in Panulirus cygnus and other commercially and ecologically important species.

Additional keywords: El Niño, La Niña, Leeuwin Current, nutritional condition, protein, puerulus settlement.


Acknowledgements

Funding for this study was provided by the Department of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia and CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research. We acknowledge the invaluable assistance provided by the Western Australian Fisheries Department, which generously provided the numerous pueruli used in this study. We also thank Danny Holdsworth for technical support during running of the GC-MS facility and acknowledge with thanks the constructive comments of Professor Boulton and two anonymous reviewers for providing helpful comments on the manuscript.


References

Alonzo, F. , Virtue, P. , Nicol, S. , and Nichols, P. D. (2005a). Lipids as trophic markers in Antarctic krill. III. Temporal changes in digestive gland lipid composition of Euphausia superba in controlled conditions. Marine Ecology Progress Series 296, 81–91.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | Anger K. (Ed.) (2001). ‘The Biology of Decapod Crustacean Larvae. (Crustacean Issues – 14).’ (A. A. Balkema Publishers: Exton, PA.)

Anger, K. , and Dawirs, R. R. (1981). Influence of starvation on the larval development of Hyas areneus (Decapoda, Majidae). Helgolander Meeresunters 34, 287–311.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Butler M. J., and Herrnkind W. F. (2000). Puerulus and juvenile ecology. In ‘Spiny Lobsters: Fisheries and Culture’. (Eds B. F. Phillips and J. Kittaka.) pp. 276–301. (Fishing News Books: Oxford.)

Caputi, N. , Chubb, C. , and Brown, R. S. (1995). Relationship between spawning stock, environment, recruitment and fishing effort for the western rock lobster, Panulirus cygnus, fishery in Western Australia. Crustaceana 68, 213–226.
Carr M. R. (1997). ‘PRIMER – Plymouth routines in multivariate research.’ (Plymouth Marine Laboratory: Plymouth, UK.)

Chiswell, S. M. , and Booth, J. D. (2008). Sources and sinks of larval settlement in Jasus edwardsii around New Zealand: Where do larvae come from and where do they go? Marine Ecology Progress Series 354, 201–217.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Danaher K. (2003). Assessing the diet of wild late stage phyllosoma of the rock lobster Panulirus cygnus, using lipid biomarkers: implications for larval condition. Honours Thesis, School of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook University.

Dunstan, G. A. , Volkman, J. K. , Barret, S. M. , Leroi, J. M. , and Jeffrey, S. W. (1994). Essential polyunsaturated fatty acids from 14 species of diatom (Bacillariophyceae). Phytochemistry 35, 155–161.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | Jeffs A. G. (2001). Can compromised condition explain early mortalities in spiny lobster culture? In ‘Proceedings International Symposium on Lobster Health Management’. (Eds L. H. Evans and J. B. Jones.) pp. 64–74. (Curtin University Press: Perth.)

Jeffs, A. G. , Willmott, M. E. , and Wells, R. M. G. (1999). The use of energy stores in the puerulus of the spiny lobster Jasus edwardsii across the continental shelf of New Zealand. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A 123, 351–357.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Pearce A. F. (1997). The Leeuwin Current and the Houtman Abrolhos Islands. In ‘The Marine Flora and Fauna of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia’. (Ed. F. E. Wells.) pp. 11–46. (Western Australian Museum: Perth, WA.)

Pearce, A. F. , and Griffiths, R. W. (1991). The mesoscale structure of the Leeuwin Current: a comparison of laboratory model and satellite images. Journal of Geophysical Research 96, 16739–16757.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Pearce A. F., and Phillips B. F. (1994). Oceanic processes, puerulus settlement and recruitment of the western rock lobster Panulirus cygnus. In ‘The Biophysics of Marine Larval Dispersal’. Coastal and Estuarine Studies 45. (Eds P. W. Sammarco and M. L. Heron.) pp. 279–303. (American Geophysical Union: Washington.)

Phillips, B. F. (1972). A semi-quantitative collector of the puerulus larvae of the western rock lobster Panulirus longipes cygnus George (Decapoda, Palinuridae). Crustaceana 22, 147–154.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Phillips B. F., Pearce A. F., Litchfield R. T., and Guzman Del Proo S. (2000). Spiny lobster catches and the ocean environment. In ‘Spiny Lobsters: Fisheries and Culture’. (Eds B. F. Phillips and J. Kittaka.) pp. 321–333. (Fishing News Books: Oxford.)

Phillips B. F., Melville-Smith R., Rossbach M., Cheng Y. W., Caputi N., et al. (2003). Towards establishing techniques for large scale harvesting of pueruli and obtaining a better understanding of mortality rates. Fisheries Research Report, FRDC Project 1998/302 – Rock Lobster Enhancement & Aquaculture Subprogram, Perth, Australia.

Phillips, B. F. , Jeffs, A. G. , Melville-Smith, R. , Chubb, C. , and Nelson, M. M. (2006). Changes in lipid and fatty acid composition of late larval and puerulus stages of the spiny lobster (Panulirus cygnus) across the continental shelf of Western Australia. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B 143, 219–228.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Phleger, C. F. , Nelson, M. M. , Mooney, B. D. , Nichols, P. D. , and Ritar, A. J. (2001). Lipids and nutrition of the southern rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii, from hatch to puerulus. Marine and Freshwater Research 52, 1475–1486.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS |

Strzelecki, J. , Koslow, J. A. , and Waite, A. M. (2007). Comparison of mesozooplankton communities from a pair of warm- and cold-core eddies off the coast of Western Australia. Deep-Sea Research. Part II Topical Studies in Oceanography 54, 1103–1112.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Thompson, A. P. , Hanley, J. R. , and Johnson, M. S. (1996). Genetic structure of the western rock lobster, Panulirus cygnus, with the benefit of hindsight. Marine and Freshwater Research 47, 889–896.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS |

Thompson, P. A. , Pesant, S. , and Waite, A. M. (2007). Contrasting the vertical differences in the phytoplankton biology of a dipole pair of eddies in the south-eastern Indian Ocean. Deep-Sea Research. Part II Topical Studies in Oceanography 54, 1003–1028.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Waite, A. M. , Pesant, S. , Griffin, D. A. , Thompson, P. A. , and Holl, C. M. (2007a). Oceanography, primary production and dissolved inorganic nitrogen uptake in two Leeuwin Current eddies. Deep-Sea Research. Part II Topical Studies in Oceanography 54, 981–1002.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Waite, A. M. , Muhling, B. , Holl, C. , Beckley, L. , and Montoya, J. P. , et al. (2007b). Food web structure in two counter-rotating eddies based on δ15N and δ13C isotopic analyses. Deep-Sea Research. Part II Topical Studies in Oceanography 54, 1055–1075.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Waite, A. M. , Thompson, P. A. , Pesant, S. , Feng, M. , and Beckley, L. E. , et al. (2007c). The Leeuwin Current and its eddies: An introductory overview. Deep-Sea Research. Part II Topical Studies in Oceanography 54, 789–796.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |