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Functional morphology and ontogeny of mouthparts and mouth aperture of Panulirus ornatus and Sagmariasus verreauxi: Implications towards formulated feeds development
Abstract
Development of formulated feed is now a focal point in advancing the aquaculture of spiny lobster species. This study investigated the functional morphology of two spiny lobsters, Panulirus ornatus and Sagmariasus verreauxi, by analysing mouthpart morphology and mouth aperture. The analysis is focussed on determining likely feed preference based on morphology with the aim to provide knowledge for the development of formulated feeds. There is a strong correlation between the mouth aperture being approximately 4.0 and 7.5% of the carapace length of S. verreauxi and P. ornatus juvenile and adult lobsters, respectively. This finding provides knowledge for development of a species-specific tool that could be used in experimental studies to define optimal dimensions of artificial manufactured pellets in relation to the size of the lobster. Differences in mouthpart morphology through ontogeny included increase of calcification and robustness, and this is likely to reflect a different requirement in the texture (softness/hardness) of the pellet as the animals develop. Spines and setation are a prominent feature of the mouthpart morphology and differ between species and during ontogeny. Spines on maxillipeds II and III and crista dentata on maxillipeds III are likely to play an important role in holding and manipulation of feed prior to ingestion. Pellet texture may need to accommodate these differences in species and age specific mouthpart ontogeny. Ontogenetic changes in setation were found, with much richer setation proportionally to the size of mouthpart in first instar juvenile lobsters, which decreases with size increase. Furthermore, species-specific differences indicate function shifts in mouthparts with life stages. This may indicate differences in filter feeding capacity with age and between species, as reported for other decapods. This is unlikely to be of high importance in pellet feeding but may represent an avenue of investigation for first feeds in juveniles. Collectively, the differences during ontogeny and between species suggest that formulated feeds may need to be tailored to species and life stage, particularly regarding pellet dimensions and texture.
Katarzyna Kropielnicka-Kruk, Quinn P. Fitzgibbon, Andrew J. Trotter, Chris G. Carter, Jane McRae, Gregory G. Smith, Functional morphology and ontogeny of mouthparts and mouth aperture of Panulirus ornatus and Sagmariasus verreauxi: Implications towards formulated feeds development, Aquaculture, 2024, 741503, ISSN 0044-8486,
The ARC Research Hub for Sustainable Onshore Lobster Aquaculture is funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Research Program.
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