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Morphometric relationships and seasonal variation in size, weight, and a condition index of post-settlement stages of the Caribbean spiny lobster

Spiny lobsters have a protracted pelagic, oceanic larval phase. The final larval stage metamorphoses into a non-feeding postlarva (puerulus) that actively swims towards the coast to settle in shallow habitats and does not resume feeding until after the molt into the first-stage juvenile. Therefore,...

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Autores principales: Martínez-Calderón, Rogelio, Lozano-Álvarez, Enrique, Briones-Fourzán, Patricia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6063251/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30065884
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5297
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author Martínez-Calderón, Rogelio
Lozano-Álvarez, Enrique
Briones-Fourzán, Patricia
author_facet Martínez-Calderón, Rogelio
Lozano-Álvarez, Enrique
Briones-Fourzán, Patricia
author_sort Martínez-Calderón, Rogelio
collection PubMed
description Spiny lobsters have a protracted pelagic, oceanic larval phase. The final larval stage metamorphoses into a non-feeding postlarva (puerulus) that actively swims towards the coast to settle in shallow habitats and does not resume feeding until after the molt into the first-stage juvenile. Therefore, the body dimensions and nutritional condition of both settled pueruli and first juveniles are likely to vary over time, potentially playing a crucial role in the recruitment to the benthic population. We compared carapace length (CL), height (CH), and width (CW); total length (TL), and body weight (W) between pueruli and first juveniles of the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, as well as morphometric relationships between both developmental stages. Except for CL, all other dimensions were larger in first juveniles, but more markedly CH and W. The slopes of the CH vs CL, CW vs CL, and W vs CL regressions differed significantly between stages, and all log-transformed relationships showed isometry in both stages, except for the CH vs CL relationship, which showed positive allometry. These results reflect a morphological change from the flatter, more streamlined body of the puerulus, to the heavier, more cylindrical body of the juvenile. We also analyzed seasonal variations in CL, W, the W/CL index (a morphometric condition index), and a modified W/CL index (i.e. after controlling for a significant effect of CL) of both stages using individuals monthly collected over 12 consecutive seasons (Autumn 2010–Summer 2013). In both stages, all three variables exhibited significant seasonal variation. For pueruli, the modified W/CL index differed from average in only two seasons, winter 2011 (higher) and summer 2013 (lower), but showed great within-season variation (larger coefficients of variation, CV), potentially reflecting variability in nutritional condition of larvae prior to metamorphosis and in the distances swum by individual pueruli to the settlement habitats. For first juveniles, the modified W/CL index was higher than average in winter and spring 2011, and lower in autumn 2011 and winter 2012, but showed less within season variation (smaller CVs), suggesting a combination of carry-over effects of puerulus condition and effects of local conditions (e.g., food availability and predation risk). These findings warrant further investigation into factors potentially decoupling settlement from recruitment processes.
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spelling pubmed-60632512018-07-31 Morphometric relationships and seasonal variation in size, weight, and a condition index of post-settlement stages of the Caribbean spiny lobster Martínez-Calderón, Rogelio Lozano-Álvarez, Enrique Briones-Fourzán, Patricia PeerJ Aquaculture, Fisheries and Fish Science Spiny lobsters have a protracted pelagic, oceanic larval phase. The final larval stage metamorphoses into a non-feeding postlarva (puerulus) that actively swims towards the coast to settle in shallow habitats and does not resume feeding until after the molt into the first-stage juvenile. Therefore, the body dimensions and nutritional condition of both settled pueruli and first juveniles are likely to vary over time, potentially playing a crucial role in the recruitment to the benthic population. We compared carapace length (CL), height (CH), and width (CW); total length (TL), and body weight (W) between pueruli and first juveniles of the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, as well as morphometric relationships between both developmental stages. Except for CL, all other dimensions were larger in first juveniles, but more markedly CH and W. The slopes of the CH vs CL, CW vs CL, and W vs CL regressions differed significantly between stages, and all log-transformed relationships showed isometry in both stages, except for the CH vs CL relationship, which showed positive allometry. These results reflect a morphological change from the flatter, more streamlined body of the puerulus, to the heavier, more cylindrical body of the juvenile. We also analyzed seasonal variations in CL, W, the W/CL index (a morphometric condition index), and a modified W/CL index (i.e. after controlling for a significant effect of CL) of both stages using individuals monthly collected over 12 consecutive seasons (Autumn 2010–Summer 2013). In both stages, all three variables exhibited significant seasonal variation. For pueruli, the modified W/CL index differed from average in only two seasons, winter 2011 (higher) and summer 2013 (lower), but showed great within-season variation (larger coefficients of variation, CV), potentially reflecting variability in nutritional condition of larvae prior to metamorphosis and in the distances swum by individual pueruli to the settlement habitats. For first juveniles, the modified W/CL index was higher than average in winter and spring 2011, and lower in autumn 2011 and winter 2012, but showed less within season variation (smaller CVs), suggesting a combination of carry-over effects of puerulus condition and effects of local conditions (e.g., food availability and predation risk). These findings warrant further investigation into factors potentially decoupling settlement from recruitment processes. PeerJ Inc. 2018-07-24 /pmc/articles/PMC6063251/ /pubmed/30065884 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5297 Text en ©2018 Martínez-Calderón et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Aquaculture, Fisheries and Fish Science
Martínez-Calderón, Rogelio
Lozano-Álvarez, Enrique
Briones-Fourzán, Patricia
Morphometric relationships and seasonal variation in size, weight, and a condition index of post-settlement stages of the Caribbean spiny lobster
title Morphometric relationships and seasonal variation in size, weight, and a condition index of post-settlement stages of the Caribbean spiny lobster
title_full Morphometric relationships and seasonal variation in size, weight, and a condition index of post-settlement stages of the Caribbean spiny lobster
title_fullStr Morphometric relationships and seasonal variation in size, weight, and a condition index of post-settlement stages of the Caribbean spiny lobster
title_full_unstemmed Morphometric relationships and seasonal variation in size, weight, and a condition index of post-settlement stages of the Caribbean spiny lobster
title_short Morphometric relationships and seasonal variation in size, weight, and a condition index of post-settlement stages of the Caribbean spiny lobster
title_sort morphometric relationships and seasonal variation in size, weight, and a condition index of post-settlement stages of the caribbean spiny lobster
topic Aquaculture, Fisheries and Fish Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6063251/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30065884
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5297
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