Comparison of Nursery Methods to Strengthen Oysters for Aquaculture

Nursery Exposure of Oyster Spat to Different Predators Strengthens Oyster Shells

“…Oysters are known to increase shell hardness in response to blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) and mud crab (Panopeus herbstii) exudates (Newell et al 2007, Robinson et al 2014, Scherer and Smee 2017, which makes them less susceptible to mud crab predators (Robinson et al 2014). However, it is not well understood which predators induce the strongest defense in flow-through systems or how these defenses improve survival among different predators (Combs et al 2019). Here, we tested oyster morphological responses to exudates from oyster drills (Stramonita haemastoma), a species believed by farmers to be the predominant predator of oysters in the northern GOM (Grice and Walton 2017), and compared their response to blue crab exudates when raised in a nursery.…”