Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

Standard metabolic rate of spiny lobster (Sagmariasus verreauxi) pueruli determined by intermittent flow-through respirometry

Volume 52 Issue 2

Q. P. Fitzgibbon

Abstract

An improved understanding of the metabolic physiology of larvalspiny lobsters will aid the development of spiny lobsterpropagation. The study describes an intermittent flow-through respirometer system for larval crustaceans and discusses its benefits over typical static re spirometry methods.The technique is used to determine the standard metabolic rate of the nektonic puerulus stage of the spiny lobster, Sagmariasus verreauxi. Respiration rates of intermoult pueruli (n=5)were determined every 20 min for 16h.Pueruli metabolism was elevated for 2 h after introduction to the respirometer chamber due to the effects of transfer stress. Thereafter, metabolic rates fluctuated due to spontaneous activity.S. verreauxi pueruli mean standard metabolic rate,determined as the lowest10% of meta-bolic recordings, was 0.39 ±0.03 mg h-1 gDW-1. This is substantially lower than previous recordings of Panulirus cygnus puerulimetabolism using static methodologies. The lower recorded metabolism of S. verreauxi appears due to the use of improved methods which allowed the exclusion of measurements elevated by stress oractivity. The results of the current study demonstrate that the standard metabolism of pueruli is substantially reduced to previous record-ings of pueruli routine metabolism. Pueruli may have reduced meta-bolism due to lower maintenance costs associated with lecithotrophy which may be a mechanism of preserving energy during the non-feeding stage. Lower maintenance costs would help pueruli achieve the energe-tic challenge of swimming from open-ocean to find suitable benthic substrate.

Keywords

Oxygen consumption, respiration, metabolic physiology, energetics, packhorse lobster, respirometry, puerulus, decapod crustacean larvae

Date : 03-03-2011