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Published (Version of record)Do Cues Matter? Highly Inductive Settlement Cues Don't Ensure High Post-Settlement Survival in Sea Urchin AquacultureCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Do Cues Matter? Highly Inductive Settlement Cues Don't Ensure High Post-Settlement Survival in Sea Urchin Aquaculture
PloS one, Vol.6(12), e28054
2011
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Abstract
Increasing settlement and post-settlement survival during the critical transition from planktonic larvae to benthic juveniles will increase efficiency for sea urchin aquaculture. This study investigated the effects of temperature and settlement cues on the settlement and post-settlement survival of the sea urchin <em>Tripneustes gratilla</em> during this phase. The current commercial methodology, which utilises natural biofilm settlement plates, was tested and resulted in low settlement (<2%) and poor post-settlement survival (<1% of settled urchins). In laboratory trials, settlement was high and unaffected by temperatures between 24 and 30°C, but significantly decreased at 33°C. Development of spines, however, was significantly affected by temperatures over 29°C. Mirroring this result, post-settlement survival was optimal between 24–28°C. In laboratory assays, the macroalgae <em>Sargassum linearifolium</em> and <em>Corallina officinalis</em>, and seawater conditioned with these algae, induced significantly higher settlement (>90%) than a natural biofilm (∼25%). The addition of macroalgae-conditioned seawater to natural biofilm significantly increased settlement rates (>85%). Mixed consortia and single strains of bacteria isolated from macroalgae, biofilms and adult conspecifics all induced significant settlement, but at significantly lower rates than macroalgae. No evidence was found that higher rates of settlement to bacteria on macroalgae were generated by a cofactor from the macroalgae. Age of bacterial cultures, culturing bacteria on solid and liquid media and concentration of nutrients in cultures had little effect on settlement rates. Finally, macroalgae-conditioned seawater combined with natural biofilm settlement plates induced significantly higher settlement than to the biofilm plates alone in a commercial scale trial. However, high post-settlement mortality resulted in equivalent survival between treatments after 25 days. This study highlights that settlement studies should extend to post-settlement survival, which remains poor for <em>T. gratilla</em> and is a significant obstacle to increasing efficiency for aquaculture.
Details
- Title
- Do Cues Matter? Highly Inductive Settlement Cues Don't Ensure High Post-Settlement Survival in Sea Urchin Aquaculture
- Creators
- Benjamin Mos (Corresponding Author) - Southern Cross UniversityKenneth L Cowden - Southern Cross UniversityShaun J Nielsen - Southern Cross UniversitySymon Dworjanyn - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- PloS one, Vol.6(12), e28054
- Identifiers
- 991012866700502368
- Academic Unit
- National Marine Science Centre
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article