Bait and the susceptibility of American lobsters Homarus americanus to epizootic shell disease.
Dis Aquat Organ
; 95(1): 1-8, 2011 May 24.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21797030
ABSTRACT
Shell disease (SD) has been observed in lobster populations for almost a hundred years, but recently, rates of an epizootic form of shell disease (ESD) have increased in the southern New England (USA) area. A large proportion of fish in the diet of American lobsters Homarus americanus has been linked to increased rates of SD. Therefore, the use of fish as lobster bait may be linked to increased ESD rates in lobsters. Lobsters from the western portion of Martha's Vineyard, MA (41 degrees N, 71 degrees W), were randomly divided into 3 groups of 16 and exposed to dietary treatments (100% herring; 48% crab, 48% blue mussel and 4% plant matter; or 50% herring, 24% crab, 24% mussel, 2% plant matter) to determine if lobster tissue delta15N levels reflected diet. The results of the feeding experiment confirmed that differences in diet are observed in the delta15N levels of lobster muscle tissue. The delta15N levels of tissue samples from 175 wild lobsters with varying degrees of ESD were unrelated to ESD severity but did indicate lobsters were eating large amounts of fish (bait). This result does not support the speculation that fish used as bait is contributing to ESD outbreaks in portions of the southern New England area.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Fishes
/
Food
/
Nephropidae
/
Animal Diseases
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Dis Aquat Organ
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
/
MEDICINA VETERINARIA
/
MICROBIOLOGIA
Year:
2011
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States