Immunological
Health of Lobsters: Assays and Applications
Investigator:
- Robert
S. Anderson, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Center for Environmental
Sciences, University of Maryland.
Phone: (410) 326-7247; E-mail: anderson@cbl.umces.edu
Anderson is using
biotechnology tools to measure the blood cell-related defense system
of the lobster against disease. This research will lay the groundwork
for discerning changes in immune response due to toxicity or other
environmental stressors.
Stress Indicators
in Lobsters: Hormones and Heat Shock Proteins
Investigator:
- Ernest
S. Chang, Bodega Marine Laboratory, Univ. California Davis
Phone: (707) 875-2061; E-mail: eschang@ucdavis.edu
Chang is investigating
the relative impacts of stresses from environmental factors (like
temperature and salinity), biological factors (including bacteria
and protozoa), and human-caused stresses (pesticides). Lobsters exposed
to these stresses are being examined for changes in stress proteins
and steroid molting hormones.
Development of
assays for the evaluation of immune functions of the American
Lobster (Homarus americanus) as a tool for health assessment
Investigator:
- Sylvain
DeGuise, The Dept. of Pathobiology, University of Connecticut,
Storrs
Phone: (860) 486-0850; E-mail: sdeguise@canr.uconn.edu
Co-investigators:
The University
of Connecticut Pathobiology team is seeking to develop new tools to
use in evaluating how immune systems work in both sick and healthy
lobsters. They are exposing lobsters to various chemicals and other
stressors and measure the response of the immune system in each case.
Effects of
Environmental Stressors on Disease Susceptibility in Lobsters: A Controlled
Laboratory Story
Investigator:
Co-Principal
Investigator:
- Andrew
F.J. Draxler, NOAA Fisheries, Howard Laboratory, Sandy Hook,
NJ
Phone: (732) 872-3054; E-mail: Andrew.Draxler@noaa.gov
Robohm and Draxler
are investigating the effects of environmental stressors on the susceptibility
of lobsters to pathogens. The work tests whether depressed habitat
quality may have compromised lobsters' immune systems and contributed
to the die-off. The researchers are exposing healthy lobsters to two
bacterial pathogens in the presence of varying levels of environmentally
relevant bio-geochemicals such as sulfide and ammonia as well as environmental
conditions such as low oxygen and increased temperatures. After the
exposures, changes in bacterial numbers and five, lobster, immune-system
indices are measured. The protocol also allows for testing of stressors
on the growth of a parasitic amoeba in lobsters, should the amoeba
be cultured successfully by other researchers.
Pesticides
Effects of
Pesticides of Lobster Health: Trace Level Measurements and Toxicological
Assessment at Environmentally Realistic Concentrations
Investigator:
- Anne E.
McElroy, Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University.
Phone: (631) 632-8488; E-mail: Anne.McElroy@sunysb.edu
Co-Investigator:
- Bruce J.
Brownawell, Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University.
Phone: (631) 632-8658; E-mail: Bruce.Brownawell@sunysb.edu
McElroy and Brownawell
are addressing the potential link between pesticide use and lobster
mortality. They are measuring mortality and immune response in larval
and juvenile lobsters exposed to environmentally realistic levels
of pesticides (malathion, methoprene, and selected pyrethroids such
as Anvil and Scourge). The team is also looking to develop ways to
measure levels of these pesticides and their breakdown products in
seawater, sediment, and possibly lobster tissues. They are particularly
interested in sampling water after storm events when concentrations
may be highest. The results of this study should provide a strong
indication whether or not pesticide use is likely to contribute to
degraded lobster health in Long Island
Sound. This study will also shed light on the effects of temperature
on the immune response of young lobsters.
Determination
of the toxicity and sublethal effects of selected pesticides on the
American Lobster (Homarus americanus)
Investigator:
Co-investigators:
The research
team are exposing lobsters to malathion, resmethrin, and methoprene,
three pesticides used in the region to control mosquitoes after West
Nile virus was found. The subtle effects of low levels of pesticides
on the lobster immune system is being measured, in addition to high
level exposures, to determine toxicity.
Acute Effects
of Methoprene on Survival, Cuticular Morphogenesis and Shell Biosynthesis
in the American Lobster, Homarus americanus
Investigator:
- Michael
N. Horst, Mercer University School of Medicine, Macon GA
Phone: (478) 301-2558; E-mail: horst_mn@mercer.edu
Co-investigators:
- Anna N.
Walker, Department of Pathology, Mercer University, Macon, GA.
Phone: (478) 301-4067; E-mail: walker_an@mercer.edu
- Thomas
G. Wilson, Department of Biology, Colorado State University,
Fort Collins, CO.
Phone: (970) 491-2542; E-mail: twilson@lamar.colostate.edu
- Parshall
B. Bush, Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories,
University of Georgia, Athens.
Phone: TBA; E-mail: pbush@arches.uga.edu
- Timothy
E. Miller, Darling Marine Center, University of Maine, Bristol,
ME.
Phone: (207) 563-3146 ext. 218; E-mail: TEMiller@maine.edu
- Ernest
S. Chang, Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California.
Phone: (707) 875-2061; E-mail: eschang@ucdavis.edu
- Robert
L. Vogel, Department of Community Medicine, Mercer University
School of Medicine, Macon, GA.
Phone: (912) 784-3581; E-Mail: vogel.robert@mccg.org
Horst has hypothesized
that methoprene could kill lobsters and cause biochemical changes
in juvenile and adult lobsters. His team is studying the effects a
range of doses have on nerve, skin, and pancreatic cells, shell formation.
Hormonal Responses
of Lobsters to Stresses of Western LIS
Investigator:
- Hans Laufer,
Dept. of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of Connecticut,
Storrs, CT
Phone: (860) 486-4117 E-mail: laufer@uconnvm.uconn.edu
Co-investigators:
Laufer is assessing
the effects of long-term stresses-heat, methoprene, and infection-on
the growth, maturation and reproduction processes of lobsters. Western
LIS lobsters exposed to known stress factors, as well as those infected
by the paramoeba are being compared to field collected lobsters in
the laboratory. The potential of elevated temperature and elevated
pesticide levels could alter lobster endocrinology leading to effects
on growth, molting and ultimately, survival. This project measures
several endocrine levels in response to laboratory manipulation of
temperature and pesticide levels.
Physical/Chemical Environment
Relationship
Between American Lobster Mortality in LIS and Prevailing Water
Column Conditions
Investigators:
- Robert
E. Wilson, Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University.
Phone: (631) 632-8689; E-mail: Robert.Wilson@sunysb.edu
Co-investigators:
- R. Lawrence
Swanson, Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook
University. Phone: (631) 632-8704; E-mail: Robert.Swanson@sunysb.edu
- Duane E.
Waliser, Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University
Phone: (631) 632-8647; E-mail: Duane.Waliser@sunysb.edu
Wilson, Swanson
and Waliser are examining water quality factors such as temperature,
salinity, dissolved oxygen, and pollutants with respect to the lobster
mortalities. The lobsters are vulnerable to stress and sometimes mortality
when exposed to unfavorable environmental conditions, especially during
the molt cycle. Environmental factors can act singularly or in combination
to cause sublethal stress that increases sensitivity to events that
would normally be tolerated. Significantly elevated bottom temperatures
during the summer and fall of 1999 lead the team to focus primarily
on co-variations in temperature and dissolved oxygen.
Effects of
Temperature and Body Size on Metabolic Stress in LIS Lobsters
Investigator:
- Glenn
Lopez, Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University
Phone: (631) 632-8660; E-mail: Glenn.Lopez@sunysb.edu
Co-investigator:
- Robert
M. Cerrato, Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University
Phone: (631) 632-8666, E-mail: Robert.Cerrato@sunysb.edu
Lopez and Cerrato
are trying to determine to what extent high summer temperatures in
Long Island Sound's bottom waters have negative impacts on lobsters
and if larger lobsters are more susceptible to temperature stress
than smaller ones. The results of their lab studies may be used to
predict the effects of long term changes in summer temperatures on
the health of the LIS lobster population. The study will shed light
on normal patterns of lobster stress and mortality as well as the
extraordinary mortality event of fall 1999.
Exposure
of Lobsters to the Varied Chemical and Biological Environment of Long
Island Sound
Investigators:
- Andrew
F.J. Draxler, NOAA Fisheries, Howard Laboratory, Sandy Hook,
NJ
Phone: (732) 872-3054, E-mail: Andrew.Draxler@noaa.gov
- Ashok Deshpande,
NOAA Fisheries, Howard Laboratory, Sandy Hook, NJ
Phone: (732) 872-3043 E-mail: Ashok.Deshpande@noaa.gov
Paulson, Deshpande,
and Draxler are documenting lobster responses to the chemical and
biological conditions of Long Island Sound in an attempt to uncover
any direct relationship between lobster health and their environment.
The experiment examines the health of lobsters under ambient Long
Island Sound conditions during the time period when lobsters are believed
to be most susceptible to these conditions. Lobsters taken from uncontaminated
regions are being evaluated, then placed in cages at six sites around
western and central Long Island Sound. The sites have been chosen
to span a variety of environmental conditions. For four weeks, scientists
will monitor the cages, routinely recover lobsters from each site,
and evaluate them for changes attributable to exposure to naturally
occurring biogeochemicals (such as ammonia and sulfide) as well as
to contaminants. Lobster health will be assessed by bacterial determinations,
and physiological condition. A limited number of the exposed lobsters
will also undergo pathological examination.
Environmental
Change in LIS in the Recent Past
Investigator:
Co-Investigators:
- Ellen Thomas,
Wesleyan University
Phone: (860) 685-2238 E-mail: ethomas@wesleyan.edu
- Mark Altabet,
Dept. Chemistry & Biochemistry, UMass, Dartmouth
- Sherri
Cooper, Bryn Athyn College
Phone: (215) 938-2554 E-mail: slcooper@duke.edu
- Marilyn
Buchholtz ten Brink, US Geological Survey
Phone: (508) 457-2392 E-mail: mtenbrink@usgs.gov
This project
is building on an ongoing study, and includes the development of a
detailed time line of environmental changes in LIS over the last decade
by evaluating sediment cores. Evaluation of sediment will provide
information on water temperatures, organisms within the food chain,
dissolved oxygen levels, pollution and salinity. This study will help
ascertain whether the lobster die-off is more strongly linked to global
climate change or local contamination with pollutants or nutrients.
Shell
Disease
Bacterial
Assemblages Involved in the Development and Progression of Shell Disease
in the American Lobster, Homarus americanus
Investigator:
Co-investigator:
- Roxanna
Smolowitz, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA
Phone: (508) 289-7400; E-mail: rsmol@mbl.edu
By comparing
shell disease in lobsters from Eastern Long Island Sound with those
from Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, Chistoserdov and Smolowitz seek
to identify the kinds of bacteria that cause lobster shell disease.
The team is also designing a set of specific probes that are being
used to test for such pathogens.
Paramoeba
Phenotypic
and Molecular Identification of Environmental Specimens of the Genus
Paramoeba Associated with Lobster Mortality Events
Investigator:
- Patrick
M. Gillevet, George Mason University, Fairfax VA
Phone: (703) 993-1057, E-mail: gillevet@ib3.gmu.edu
Co-investigators:
- Charles
J. O'Kelly, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, West Boothbay
Harbor, ME. Phone: (207) 633-9616, E-mail: cokelly@bigelow.org
- Thomas
A. Nerad, American Type Culture Collection, Mannassas, VA
Phone: (703) 365-2722
- Thomas
K. Sawyer, Rescon Associates, Inc. Turtle Cove. Royal Oak, MD
Phone: 410-745-5669, E-mail: rescon@goeaston.net
Gillevet is using
a combination of methods to isolate and characterize the paramoeba
that has been identified in Long Island Sound lobsters. Gillevet and
O'Kelly hope to develop a sensitive "fingerprinting" tool
that will detect this paramoeba in the environment.
Oligonucleotide-based
Detection of Pathogenic Paramoeba Species
Investigator:
- Rebecca
J. Gast, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA.
Phone: (508) 289-3209, E-mail: rgast@whoi.edu
Gast is seeking
to develop a method to facilitate the detection of paramoeba in animal
tissues, water, and sediment samples. Using the new method, the researchers
are performing a year-long sampling of Long Island Sound to analyze
the paramoeba's fluctuation and distribution.
Development
of polymerase chain reaction- and in situ hybridization-based tests
for
the specific detection of the paramoeba associated with epizootic
lobster mortality
by determination of the molecular systematics of the genus Paramoeba
Investigator:
Co-investigators:
The purpose of
this project is to produce and analyze gene sequences of a number
of Paramoeba spp. and to develop a molecular diagnostic assay
for the lobster Paramoeba sp.
Monitoring
& Assessment
Two projects
being conducted by NYSDEC and CTDEP are
looked at as the glue that binds the 17 research projects together.
Each is geared towards monitoring and assessing Long Island Sound's
lobster population and its commercial lobster fishery.
Investigators:
Carl
Lo Bue, from NYSDEC's Division of Fish and Wildlife and Marine
Resources, heads a study to combine a variety of lobster sea-sampling
data to describe the existing population in the western Sound, document
the commercial lobstering activities throughout the entire Sound,
and develop methods to properly index the recruitment strength of
young-of-year lobsters each year.
The second study, overseen by David Simpson from CTDEP's
Marine Fisheries Division, addresses the need for expanded sea-sampling
and trawl survey monitoring, sample collections for researchers, stock
movements and identification, and habitat use.
Additional Background
information on
LIS Lobster Research Initiative
- Funding for
this initiative was announced in June 2001. The announcement includes
research synopses on 14 of the 19 lobster projects
- those overseen by NYSG, CTSG, and NMFS |
Text-Only
| PDF
- Our
researchers have been investigating since mid-2001. So,
what's the status of our lobster research findings?
-
The first round
of findings were released in November 2001 at the Second
Annual LIS Lobster Symposium |
Click
Here
(Note:
The second round of findings will be announced
in mid-late February 2003, in preparation for March's "3rd
Annual LIS Lobster Health Symposium")
- Want more
information? Check out our comprehensive research summaries
for all 19 projects - including CTDEP and NYSDEC projects |
PDF
- Also,
take a look at our background materials from this November 2001 event
| PDF
- Download some
of our lobster fact sheets - There's over a dozen
to choose from |
Click Here
Press
Contacts for LIS Lobster Initiative
- Researchers (from all 19 investigations) |
Click
Here (PDF)
- Administrators: NYSG |
CTSG
|
NOAA
Fisheries
New York Sea Grant
Jack Mattice, Director New York Sea Grant Program, (631) 632-6905
E-mail: jack.mattice@sunysb.edu
Antoinette Clemetson, New Sea Grant Lobster Outreach Specialist,
(631) 727-3910, E-mail: aoc5@cornell.edu
Barbara Branca, Communications Director, (631) 632-6956, E-mail:
Barbara.Branca@stonybrook.edu
Paul C. Focazio, New York Sea Grant Asst. Communicator, (631)
632-6910, Email: Paul.Focazio@stonybrook.edu
Connecticut Sea Grant
Edward Monahan, Director Connecticut Sea Grant, (860) 405-9110,
E-mail: Edward.Monahan@uconn.edu
Nancy Balcom, Extension Program Leader, (860) 405-9107, E-mail:
balcom@uconnvm.uconn.edu
Peg Van Patten, Communications Director, (860) 405-9141, E-mail:
vanpatte@uconnvm.uconn.edu
NOAA Fisheries
Teri Frady, NOAA Fisheries Public Info, NMFS NE Fish Sci. Cntr.,
(508) 495-2239, E-mail: tfrady@whsun1.wh.whoi.edu
Gordon Helm, NOAA Fisheries Public Affairs, Silver Spring,
MD (301) 713-2370, E-mail: gordon.j.helm@noaa.gov
