Relationship between Ascarophis Sp. (Nematoda: Cystidicolidae), Sturgeon Feeding Pit Density and Ghost Shrimp Burrowing Behavior
Bioturbation caused by ghost shrimp, Neotrypaea californiensis, burrowing activity can negatively affect Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, aquaculture through their burial and subsequent suffocation. The shellfish aquaculture industry used chemicals to control burrowing shrimp populations in Washin...
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| Other Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Master Thesis |
| Language: | English unknown |
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Oregon State University
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| Online Access: | https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/p8418w13m |
| Summary: | Bioturbation caused by ghost shrimp, Neotrypaea californiensis, burrowing activity can negatively affect Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, aquaculture through their burial and subsequent suffocation. The shellfish aquaculture industry used chemicals to control burrowing shrimp populations in Washington State estuaries for decades, but, due to public and governmental scrutiny, that practice has been discontinued and growers continue to seek alternative control methods including biological. Ghost shrimp on the US West Coast are parasitized by an Ascarophis species of Spirurida nematode, as an intermediate host. Preliminary research has begun to examine this nematode’s value as a potential control method for ghost shrimp on aquaculture farms, but discovering its final host is necessary to understand its life cycle and therefore better inform management implications. To address these fundamental ecological questions, surveys were conducted in two US West Coast estuaries to examine the relationship between mean Ascarophis sp. abundance in ghost shrimp populations and the feeding pit densities of the nematode’s potential definitive host, sturgeon (Acipenser spp.). The results of these surveys in Willapa Bay, Washington and Yaquina Bay, Oregon determined that mean Ascarophis sp. abundances in ghost shrimp populations were positively correlated with sturgeon feeding pit densities. Additionally, Ascarophis sp. abundances were higher in ghost shrimp that were at least 12 mm carapace length compared to shrimp with smaller carapace lengths. Though correlative, these results suggest that sturgeon species may host the adult Ascarophis sp. nematodes. A subsequent study was conducted to investigate the potential that Ascarophis sp. to alters their ghost shrimp host’s behavior in a way that would improve parasite transmission to its final host. This burrowing behavior experiment indicated that shrimp with carapace lengths larger than 12 mm burrowed slower than shrimp with smaller carapaces. However, Ascarophis sp. infection did ... |
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