Pea Crabs, The Nuisance Inside Oysters
Pea crabs, from the family Pinnotheres pisum, are kleptoparasites found around the world's oceans in different Bivalve mollusks species, specifically oysters and mussels. These soft-shell crabs are natural occurring pests, they were not brought or transported by humans around the world but rather evolved to infest mollusk species for food and protection. Their life cycles start at being birthed in areas where oysters or mussels are born in the previous or same year. The timing of the two species is offset to give the mollusks time to grow big enough to hold the crab juvenile. Once inside, the crab sits right next to the feeding filters of the mollusks and eats. If there is enough food being filtered, the mollusk is hardly affected by the presence of the pea crab, but with less food, the mollusk's health starts to decline, though they won't die, because the crab must eat first. The carbs cause damage to the mollusk's gills and the mollusk
…show more content…
must use precious energy to create soft tissue knots to protect its insides for the crab's shell. Female carbs spend their entire lives inside of a mollusk and males only leave the protection of the mollusk's shell to mate. Even though they are only one centimeter long, these little crabs have a massive effect on the growth and lifecycle of mollusk species. In 2014, Oliver Trottier of the University of Auckland in New Zealand published his doctoral thesis on the New Zealand's green-lipped mussel, New Zealand's largest aquaculture industry, and how the populous pea crab species in the area, Pinnotheres novaezelandiae, infected and affected mussels on a test farm.
He then explains how the test farm results, if put on the national level, would affect the nation of New Zealand's through economic losses due to the pea crab presence. His results concluded that there was a noticeable size difference between the mussels that were and were not infected. Pea crab infected mussel's shell size average was reduced by 13.5%, shell width reduced by 5.9%, and median weight reduced by 30%. He then concluded that the pea crab infestation costs the farm a financial loss of $3,198 US a year for the meager 5.3% infected. When the 5.3% was put on the national level, though, the loss would cost New Zealand near $2.16 million US in losses annually (Trottier,
2014). Pea crabs are found locally in mussels and clams along the Atlantic coast of the US, so the pea crab investigation is a local issue that needs to be brought to light. We need to start studying how much the US loses annually from this parasite and ways we can start getting rid of them to protect the already failing fishing industry. Oliver Trottier and his coworker Jessica Feickert are already starting to develop and test biological control that could trap male pea crabs when they come out to mate with females, stopping the next generation of eggs from infecting more mollusks (Biocontrol of the New Zealand Pea Crab). The US already over-harvested and over exhausted most of our aquatic food supplies. We need to start focusing on how we can protect our remaining ones from being invested by pests like pea crabs to support healthy future generations.
The Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), is a small freshwater mollusk that is an invasive species. It has slowly been making its way into the United States. It has done this by showing up in lakes and in rivers. The mussels get their name due to the striped pattern on their shells. They are a relatively small species, only growing to the size of a human finger nail but there have been cases of larger (“Zebra Mussels,” 2013, para. 2). Mussels live a short life span of 4-5 years and most do not make into adulthood. They live in freshwater at depths of 6 to 24 feet. The female produces 30,000 to 1,000,000 eggs per year starting at the age of two. Zebra Mussels are free moving and can move with an external organ called the byssus (“Zebra Mussels,” 2013, para. 3). But they can be moved around by currents and other objects too. Zebra Mussels are a threat to ecosystems. They damage the natural habitat of lakes and rivers and cause negative effects to the native aquatic life. They multiply in vast majority casing a lake of food and space for other animals. And also the U.S. has spent millions on the removal of these pests from our water (“Zebra Mussels,” 2014, para. 8). The Zebra Mussel has now made its way into Colorado. Just a few has been found in the waters of Colorado but a few is enough to cause a big stir. Extreme precautions have now been put into effect to make sure that the threat of Zebra Mussels is under control.
T. californicus is found from Alaska to Baja in small, shallow tidepools and tidal flats in the upper spray zone where they cannot avoid the full effect of visible and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Individuals assemble in areas of lower radiation at midday, yet have no preference to the intensity of light at dawn and dusk (Hartline and Macmillan 1995). These tiny arthropods inhabit all types of marine sediments from sand to fine mud and ooze. Along with plankton, T. californicus eats microscopic algae, protists, bacteria, diatoms, algae and microbes (McGroarty 1958). When the concentrations of the species in their habitats are high, T. californicus will turn to cannibalism for a food source. The nautilus eye present in the species is rich with fatty acids and provides a good food source for the animal.
The yeti crab is an interesting creature when it's around its surroundings. The yeti's association with their bacteria is more developed than its relatives. Each species has its own system, but one has a comb with which it can extract its food from its setae! The radiation of the closely related species seems to have been in the Coenozoic. This means that, 65 million years ago, as mammals began to take over on land, the types of crab represented now by the yetis began taking over hydrothermal vents and similar niches from a lost generation of previous inhabitants.
Do you love the slimy,green,and gooey, flavor of kelp? Many people don't , not realizing
cut back on the problems in the Bay. Scientists have given an unthinkable amount of attention to the Bay of the past several years and researchers from countless numbers of agencies and institutions have dove deep into the issues and studying every nook and cranny to create answers to every politicians’ questions. The biggest concern with the Bay, and the most concentrated ...
Both, people and animals, use the Bays resources every day and have done so for centuries. One of the Bay's biggest resources is its oysters. Oysters are filter feeders which means they feed on algae and clean the water. The oysters feed on algae and other pollutants in the bay, turning them into food, then they condense the food down to nutrients and sometimes develop pearls. Filtering the water helps the oysters grow, and also helps clean the Chesapeake Bay.
The sessile consumers are those that are stationary and all feed off small plankton creating competition for their food source which allows some sessile consumers to be more dominant than others. Mussels are the most dominant between the sessile consumer with the Starfish as its predator, followed by Goose Neck Barnacles whose predators are Whelk and Starfish, and Acorn Barnacles whose predators is Whelk. The mobile consumers consist of Whelk(Nucella), Chiton(Katharina), and Starfish(pisaster). The mobile consumers, which are the the species that have a possibility to be the Keystone species are predators and compete for food. The Starfish preys on Mussels and Goose Neck Particles, the Whelk generally prey on Acorn Barnacles and Goose Neck Barnacles, and the Chiton prey on Nori Seaweed, Black Pine, and occasionally Coral Weed. Between the Mobile Consumers the only competition for food is between the Whelk and Starfish who both prey on Goose Neck Barnacles. Lastly, there is the invasive species known as the Green Crab (Carcinus) which has invaded the environment. The Green crab invades the area and is a predator to all
The Chesapeake Bay is the nation’s largest estuary with six major tributaries, the James, the Potomac, the Susquehanna, the Patuxent, the York, and the Rappahannock Rivers, feeding into the bay from various locations in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia (Chemical Contaminants in the Chesapeake Bay – Workshop Discussion 1). These areas depend on the Bay as both an environmental and an economic resource. Throughout the last 15 years the Chesapeake Bay has suffered from elevated levels of pollution. Nitrogen and phosphorous from wastewater treatment plants, farmland, air pollution, and development all lead to reduced water clarity and lowered oxygen levels, which harm fish, crabs, oysters and underwater grasses (Key Commission Issues 1). There are other types of pollution in the bay such as toxic chemicals, but because nutrient pollution is the most significant and most widespread in the Bay its effects are the most harmful to fisheries. Nitrogen and phosphorous fuel algal blooms which cloud the water and block sunlight from reaching underwater grass beds that provide food and habitat for waterfowl, juvenile fish, blue crabs, and other species (Blankenship 11-12). Algae plays a vital role in the food chain by providing food for small fish and oysters. However, when there is an overabundance of algae it dies, sinks to the bottom of the Bay, and decomposes in such a manner that depletes the oxygen levels of the Bay (11). The reduced oxygen levels in the Bay reduce the carrying capacity of the environment and these “dead areas” sometimes kill off species that can not migrate to other areas of the Bay, such as oysters (11). Increased abundance of algal blooms also led to the overabundance of harmful and toxic algae species and microbes such as the microbe Pfiesteria, which was responsible in 1997 for eating fish alive and making dozens of people sick (12). The heightened awareness of diseases that can be contracted through consumption of contaminated fish also has an economic impact. Therefore, the excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorous have fueled an overabundance of algal blooms, which has reduced water clarity and lowered oxygen levels, affecting many species within the bay and ultimately the industries that rely on these species.
The bay's harvest and many of its other attractions bring tourists and in turn revenue for the area. Oysters and blue crab are a big part of the culture in the bay area. However, these organisms are in danger and need help. Description of the problem Eutrophication is a concern in the Chesapeake Bay. Eutrophication is caused by excessive amounts of nutrients.
they find their food by their surroundings and sifting the sand of filtering the water. the bulk of their diet is composed algae and plankton matter. The big evolutionary change helped the shrimp defend itself, time before the change there wasn’t this many shrimp in the ocean most people eat shrimp and can cause a decrease in shrimp, progress has been showed since this great evolutionary change, there are some effects on the species such as not being able to see where it’s going and can sometimes get in to traps and trash in the
The blue crab plays an important role in the marine food web, providing prey for many species and a predator on other species. The blue crab is a highly prized commodity for consumers.   ; Eight species of Callinectes have been documented in the Gulf of Mexico: C. bocourti, C. danae, C. ornatus, C. exasperatus, C. marginatus, C. similis and C. rathbunae, and Callinectes The original range of the blue crab is from Nova Scotia and throughout the Gulf of Mexico to northern Argentina.
In New Hampshire it’s known as Qua-hogging, some even call it the devil’s work. However my fellow Baymen and I in Oyster Bay, NY call it clamming. There are many different kinds of clams that one may “clam”, I would like to focus on the hard shell clam “Mercenaria mercenaria.” The socioeconomic affect from clamming has effects on both the Baymen, their communities, as well as the Quahogs. Clamming has shaped entire communities in the New England area, creating a certain type of people, as well as ensuring the success of the quahog in the New England area. A particular place of focus for the commercial clamming industry is a small sleepy town called Oyster Bay, in NY.
To start off, the horseshoe crab lived 200 million years before dinosaurs. What’s astounding is that while dinosaurs have become extinct, the horseshoe crab is still alive and well today (Horseshoe Crab:Saint Louis Zoo). Next is that it might not seem like it, but this critter is actually a predator. The crab likes to feed on things such as small clams, crustaceans, worms, algae, and other animals (Steel). Furthermore this animal is also known as the king crab. Finally the male horseshoe crab is actually shorter than the female the crab. The male is about 14-15 inches long from head to tail, while the female is measures in to be 18-19 inches long (Horseshoe Crab
Corals are a type of animal called a polyp, the simplest of predators that eat meat in the form of drifting zooplankton…all corals have boarders, zillions of microscopic, one-celled plants called zooxanthellae that live inside the polyps and transform sunlight into oxygen, keeping the corals alive. As you will see, the corals need these algae in order to live, but too much is deadly.
However, the Boiling Crab has already penetrated the market in California with the proper level of price. The restaurant business cannot charge the price far more different than the others because in the same level of restaurant, the clients will focus on the range of price before choosing it. Moreover, the Boiling Crab is the seafood, so the market price of seafood, such as shrimp, lobster, crab is very fluctuate depended on how difficult to find each item at that time. As you can see from the Boiling Crab menu, these items will be charged according to the market price at that time. Referring to the appendix 1, I compare price of food from many restaurants with the same kind of food, but it turns out that the level of price is pretty much the same between the Boiling Crab and the Kickin’crab.