Date
2-13-2020
Faculty Mentor
James Rayburn, Biology
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Files
Download (91.3 MB)
Submission Type
Poster
Location
Houston Cole Library, 11th Floor | 2:45-2:55 p.m.
Description
Grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio) are decapod Crustaceans that are very important in ecological food webs of coastal salt marshes of the Southeastern US. As detritovores they are critical in nutrient cycling. They are also important as food sources for many game fish larvae. The objectives of this research were to first, determine a non-invasive way to estimate clutch sizes through the use of pictures. Second, to perfect methods to determine growth of adults and larvae overtime in the laboratory. Third, to determine recovery time of grass shrimp female who have had their embryos removed. Palaemonetes pugio were collected at Dauphin Island, Alabama at Airport Marsh. The shrimp were measured for length and identified as either a male, female, or juvenile. Four males and Two females were placed into three separate tanks and measured over a month period. Remaining shrimp were placed in a 55-gallon tank for future use. Salinity was adjusted to 20 ppt. A single gravid female was selected, and measurements and photos were taken of her eggs attached to her abdomen. Then, her eggs were removed using forceps and after her eggs were collected, they were counted under a microscope. The female was placed in a separate tank and observed over time. The eggs were placed in an incubator at 27oC, rotated 60 rms. Twenty-four eggs from the female were placed in 1 well each of a 24 well plate and the rest of the eggs were placed in petri dishes. Every weekday embryos were observed and pictures taken using a microscope and a MotiConnect application for analysis. Results indicate that the methods show promise for estimating the numbers of embryos in ecological studies. More data needs to be collected to verify estimation of these shrimp metrics.
Keywords
student presentations, student posters, ecology, shrimp
Rights
This video is the property of Jacksonville State University and is intended for non-commercial use. Video and images may be copied for personal use, research, teaching or any "fair use" as defined by copyright law. Users are asked to acknowledge Jacksonville State University. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@jsu.edu.
Disciplines
Biology | Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Recommended Citation
Tomas, Reveca, "Preliminary Investigations into the Metrics That Can Be Used to Assess Grass Shrimp for Environmental and Ecological Studies" (2020). JSU Student Symposium 2020. 17.
https://digitalcommons.jsu.edu/ce_jsustudentsymp_2020/17
Presentation Information
Tomas, R. (2020, 13 February). Preliminary investigations into the metrics that can be used to assess Grass shrimp for environmental and ecological studies. Poster presented at the 2020 JSU Student Symposium, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL.