Can we use bivalves to filter out fish pathogens?

Another great article illustrating the great potential for chemical-free ways of controlling fish pathogens.

 

Aquaculture
  Volume 407, Number 13 (August 2013)
     Effects of temperature, diet, and bivalve size on the ingestion of sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) larvae by various filter-feeding shellfish
   Authors: Janis L. Webb, Julie Vandenbor, Bradley Pirie, Shawn M.C. Robinson, Stephen F. Cross, Simon R.M. Jones, Christopher M. Pearce
   Author Affiliations:
no affiliations available
   Source: Aquaculture, Volume 407, Number 13 (August 2013)
   Page Numbers: 9 – 17
   Available Full Text:
Full Text: Subscription Required to view full text
Format: PDF
Size: Unknown
Location: Publisher’s Site
Authentication: Publisher’s Site
   Abstract: Filter-feeding shellfish could act as biological agents in the control of parasitic sea lice (Caligidae) at salmon farms as a benefit of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture. Determining the extent to which various bivalve species ingest sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) larvae under controlled laboratory conditions was an important first step towards understanding the potential for shellfish to reduce the number of these copepod larvae in the water column at net pens. A series of laboratory experiments examined the effects of temperature (~5, 10, and 15°C), diet (larvae alone or with phytoplankton), and bivalve size (small, medium, and large) on the amount of L. salmonislarvae ingested by basket cockles (Clinocardium nuttallii), Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas), mussels (Mytilusspp.), and Pacific scallops (unconfirmed hybrid: Mizuhopecten yessoensisx Patinopecten caurinus). Feeding rate was assessed by placing bivalves individually in 2-l containers holding approximately 450 larvae in 750ml of filtered seawater. Results of the temperature/diet experiments indicated that all four species of bivalves ingested sea lice larvae, regardless of phytoplankton presence or absence, and that temperature had no significant effect on the proportion of larvae ingested. All three sizes of oysters and scallops ingested sea lice larvae, with large shellfish consuming a significantly greater proportion of the larvae than small individuals. Future research, examining the role of bivalves in the control of sea lice, should be continued at a commercial scale at a salmon farm.
   Citation: Janis L. Webb, Julie Vandenbor, Bradley Pirie, Shawn M.C. Robinson, Stephen F. Cross, Simon R.M. Jones, Christopher M. Pearce . Effects of temperature, diet, and bivalve size on the ingestion of sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) larvae by various filter-feeding shellfish. Aquaculture, Volume 407, Number 13 (August 2013), pp. 9-17, <http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=42A981D148CF4977D402&gt;
   URL: http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=42A981D148CF4977D402

Leave a comment