Nutritional composition of potential zooplankton prey of spiny lobster larvae: a review

Abstract

Spiny lobsters are one of the most valuable seafood products in the world. A major bottleneck to the development of commercial spiny lobster aquaculture is a lack of understanding of the natural diet and nutritional requirements of the larvae. Recent studies have identified the varied pelagic zooplankton prey of spiny lobster phyllosoma, which includes gelatinous taxa, such as ctenophores, jellyfish, salps, chaetognaths, polychaetes, siphonophores and radiolarians, as well as crustaceans, such as amphipods, copepods and krill. In light of these studies, the extensive range of published studies on the biochemical composition of zooplankton have been reviewed in an attempt to provide an initial indication of the possible nutritional requirements of spiny lobster phyllosoma, including protein, lipid, carbohydrate, ash and moisture content. The results indicate that protein is the predominant component in all taxonomic groups of potential prey, which is 46.7 AE 6.0% of dry mass (mean AE SE) in crustaceans and 18.3 AE 7.8% of dry mass in gelatinous zooplankton, followed by lipid, which is 23.8 AE 4.5% of dry mass in crustaceans and 5.3 AE 1.4% of dry mass in gelatinous zooplankton. Carbohydrate is 1.9 AE 0.1% of dry mass in crustaceans and 0.9 AE 0.1% of dry mass in gelatinous zooplankton. Despite the much lower nutrient and energy content of gelatinous zooplankton compared with crustaceans, feeding by phyllosoma on gelatinous zooplankton may provide them more readily accessible nutrients. The results indicate that spiny lobster phyllosoma have a high dietary requirement for protein.

DNA identification of the phyllosoma diet ofJasus edwardsiiandScyllarussp. Z

“…DNA from secondary predation is detectable using molecular methods (Sheppard et al 2005). The apparently rapid rate of digestion and degradation of prey in the gut of phyllosomas decreases the likelihood of secondary predation being detected (Smith et al 2009;Wang & Jeffs in press). It is more likely that the presence of multiple prey DNA in the gut of a phyllosoma is due to the larvae preying upon a variety of organisms as these larvae are known to be voracious feeders that can process prey rapidly (Smith et al 2009;Saunders et al 2012).…”

“…Nutrition is the most important factor responsible for the mortality of spiny lobster phyllosoma in culture (Nelson et al 2006;Jeffs 2007Jeffs , 2010. Finding a diet that satisfies the nutritional requirements of the many phyllosoma stages from hatch until puerulus is extremely challenging and, consequently, progress towards the development of an effective formulated larval diet has been slow (Cox & Johnston 2003b;Wang & Jeffs in press). A logical place to start is by examining the composition of the natural diet of spiny lobster phyllosomas, but this too has proved extremely difficult because these larvae are small in size and widely dispersed in the open ocean, making observations of natural feeding events impossible ).…”

“…The identification of prey based on the morphology of food material extracted from the digestive tract is also not possible due to the soft tissue of their prey and small size of the phyllosoma (Jeffs 2007). Ecological association, examination of the digestive tract and larval feeding structures all suggest gelatinous zookplankton as potential prey, together with fish larvae for mid to late stage phyllosomas (Jeffs 2007;Francis et al 2013;Wang & Jeffs in press). The ability of phyllosomas to handle and digest fleshier prey appears to increase with larval size and development (Cox & Johnston 2003a, b).…”

Coastal marine ecosystem connectivity: pelagic ocean to kelp forest subsidies

“…Energy densities for temperate pelagic tunicates have been estimated at 4.1 kJ/g dry mass (Salpa spp. ), 5.45 kJ/g dry mass for Salpa fusiformis, and 4.94 kJ/g dry mass for Pyrosoma atlanticum (Steimle and Terranova 1985, Davenport and Balazs 1991, Clarke et al 1992, Wang and Jeffs 2014. Because pelagic tunicates are minimally mobile organisms, the vast majority of individuals that are delivered to the kelp forest are either consumed as prey or enter detrital food chains.…”

Fatty acid profiles of phyllosoma larvae of western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) in cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies of the Leeuwin Current off Western Australia

“…Using DNA methods, siphonophores have been found to be among the most important prey items in the gut of phyllosomas of P. cygnus sampled from this ocean region (O' Rorke et al 2012). It is possible that higher availability of siphonphore prey in cyclonic versus anticyclonic eddies enables phyllosoma of P. cygnus to accumulate greater amounts of lipid, despite the relatively low nutrient density of these zooplankton (Wang and Jeffs 2013;Wang et al 2013a).…”