Papers by Enrique Lozano-Alvarez
Diversity, Jun 27, 2023
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
PeerJ
Casitas, low-lying artificial shelters that mimic large crevices, are used in some fisheries for ... more Casitas, low-lying artificial shelters that mimic large crevices, are used in some fisheries for Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus). These lobsters are highly gregarious and express communal defense of the shelter. Scaled-down casitas have been shown to increase survival, persistence, and foraging ranges of juveniles. Therefore, the use of casitas has been suggested to help enhance local populations of juvenile P. argus in Caribbean seagrass habitats, poor in natural crevice shelters, in marine protected areas. Following the emergence of Panulirus argus virus 1 (PaV1), which is lethal to juveniles of P. argus, concern was raised about the potential increase in PaV1 transmission with the use of casitas. It was then discovered that lobsters tend to avoid shelters harboring diseased conspecifics, a behavior which, alone or in conjunction with predatory culling of diseased lobsters, has been proposed as a mechanism reducing the spread of PaV1. However, this behavior may depend o...
Animals
Experimental infections have been used to better comprehend the immune system of organisms, and t... more Experimental infections have been used to better comprehend the immune system of organisms, and to probe for additives that generate greater resistance and help reduce antibiotic use in aquaculture. We compared the immune response of juveniles of the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, infected naturally with Panulirus argus virus 1 (PaV1) versus organisms infected experimentally, to determine the analogy between both infectious processes. The immunological response was measured by hemagglutination activity, hemocyte count, and total phenoloxidase activity in plasma and hemocytes in 211 individuals that were either naturally infected (110), or had been injected with viral inoculum and followed for six months (101). The samples were classified into the following four groups according to the severity of the infection: 0, uninfected; 1, lightly; 2, moderately; and 3, severely infected), which was determined on the basis of PCR and histological criteria. A permutational MANOVA sho...
Diseases of Aquatic Organisms
Bulletin of Marine Science
Spiny lobsters have a lengthy larval phase that develops in oceanic waters, followed by a nonfeed... more Spiny lobsters have a lengthy larval phase that develops in oceanic waters, followed by a nonfeeding, transparent postlarva (puerulus) that actively swims towards the coast to settle in shallow habitats. After settling, the transparent puerulus (TP) forms a new pigmented exoskeleton (pigmented puerulus, PP) and molts after 3–4 wks into the first juvenile instar (J1), which resumes feeding. Because the swim to the coast and the postsettlement molt are energetically demanding, the nutritional condition of pueruli and J1 is likely to vary with settlement location and over time, potentially playing a crucial role in the recruitment to the benthic population. We examined variation in total lipid and total protein content, as well as in lipid classes, size, and a condition index, in TP, PP, and J1 of Panulirus argus. Samples were obtained from pueruli collectors at two locations of the Mexican Caribbean coast about 150 km from each other in the four seasons of three consecutive years. Our...
Virus Research, 2022
The Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804) supports important fisheries in th... more The Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804) supports important fisheries in the Caribbean region. This species is affected by a deadly virus, Panulirus argus Virus 1 (PaV1), the only known pathogenic virus for this species. As infection progresses, the effects of PaV1 on its host become systemic, with far reaching impacts on the host's physiology, including structural injuries to its gastrointestinal organs, such as the hepatopancreas and the gut. This last one becomes highly compromised in the last stages of infection. Since the gut is a key organ for the physiological stability of lobsters, we compared the transcriptomic changes in the gut of juvenile individuals of Panulirus argus naturally infected with PaV1. In the RNA-Seq analysis, we obtained a total of 485 × 106 raw reads. After cleaning, reads were de novo assembled into 68,842 transcripts and 50,257 unigenes. The length of unigenes ranged from 201 bp to 28,717 bp, with a N50 length of 2079, and a GC content of 40.61%. In the differential gene expression analysis, we identified a total of 3,405 non redundant differential transcripts, of which 1,920 were up-regulated and 1,485 were down-regulated. We found alterations in transcripts encoding for proteins involved in transcriptional regulation, splicing, postraductional regulation, protein signaling, transmembrane transport, cytoskeletal regulation, and proteolysis, among others. This is the first insight into the transcriptomic regulation of PaV1-P. argus interaction. The information generated can help to unravel the molecular mechanisms that may intervene in the gut during PaV1 infection.
Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 2020
Diversity, 2020
The community composition of decapods associated with subtidal tropical seagrass meadows was anal... more The community composition of decapods associated with subtidal tropical seagrass meadows was analyzed in a pristine reef lagoon on the Mexican Caribbean coast in the summer of 1995 and winter of 1998. The macrophyte community was dominated by Thalassia testudinum followed by Syringodium filiforme, with interspersed rhyzophytic macroalgae and large patches of drift algae. In each season, 10 one-min trawls were made with an epibenthic sled (mesh aperture 1 mm) during the day and 10 during the night on each of five sites. In all, 53,211 decapods belonging to 119 species were collected. The most diverse taxa were Brachyura and Caridea, but the most abundant were Caridea and Anomura. Dominance was high, with three species (Latreutes fucorum, Cuapetes americanus, and Thor manningi) accounting for almost 50% of individuals, and 10 species accounting for nearly 90% of individuals. There was great similarity in community composition and ecological indices between seasons, but significantly m...
Fisheries Research, 2015
Abstract Management efforts for improving the sustainability of the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panu... more Abstract Management efforts for improving the sustainability of the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) fishery require knowledge of population connectivity. The aim of this study is to investigate population connectivity of P. argus at two levels: (1) spatially between two marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Caribbean coast of Mexico, and (2) temporally within MPAs; by genotyping discrete size classes lobsters using microsatellite markers. No evidence of population differentiation between lobster populations from Banco Chinchorro and Sian Ka’an MPAs was found (P = 0.139). In contrast significant levels of population differentiation among discrete size classes of lobsters was found (FST = 0.0054; P = 0.0052). Temporal variation among the genotypes of new larval recruits may explain these results. Future research will be required to directly test the genotypes of new larval recruits in Banco Chinchorro and Sian Ka’an MPAs to confirm this hypothesis.
Lobsters: Biology, Management, Aquaculture and Fisheries, 2013
Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2012
In Caribbean coral reefs, many crustacean species associate with sea anemones, but only a few are... more In Caribbean coral reefs, many crustacean species associate with sea anemones, but only a few are anemone symbionts. We examined several ecological traits of 3 anemone species (Bartholomea annulata, Condylactis gigantea, Lebrunia danae) and their crustacean symbionts (6 species) on a coral reef at Puerto Morelos, Mexico. On average, C. gigantea was the largest and B. annulata the most abundant of the 3 anemone species. Season did not affect the density distribution of any species, whereas reef zone (back reef, fore reef, reef channels) significantly affected density and mean size of B. annulata and C. gigantea, but only density of L. danae. The probability of harboring crusta ceans increased with anemone size in all species, but varied with reef zone and season in B. annulata only. These patterns may be due to different microhabitat requirements, reproductive strategies, or photosynthetic plasticity of dinoflagellate endosymbionts among hosts, and different flow regimes among reef zones. Alpheus armatus and Ancylomenes pedersoni were strongly associated with B. annulata, and Periclimenes rathbunae with L. danae. Thor amboinensis and Mithraculus cinctimanus occurred more often in C. gigantea, while P. yucatanicus was more evenly associated with the 3 hosts. Only Ancylomenes pedersoni and T. amboinensis occurred in conspecific groups more often than expected by chance. Commensal complexes of up to 3 symbiont species occurred in all host species, with symbionts that typically used different parts of the host coexisting more frequently. These results provide a baseline to assess the potential influence of local and global anthropogenic stressors on anemone−crustacean symbioses.
Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 2012
Diversity, 2021
Achelata (Palinuridae and Scyllaridae) have a flat, transparent, long-lived planktonic larva call... more Achelata (Palinuridae and Scyllaridae) have a flat, transparent, long-lived planktonic larva called phyllosoma, which comprises multiple stages and has a duration from a few weeks (some scyllarids) to >20 months (some palinurids). The larval development of many Achelata occurs in oceanic waters, where conventional plankton nets usually collect the early- to mid-stages but not the later stages, which remain poorly known. We examined the diversity and distribution of mid- and late-stage phyllosomata in the oceanic waters of the Mexican Caribbean, where the swift Yucatan Current is the dominant feature. The plankton samples were collected at night with a large mid-water trawl in autumn 2012 (55 stations) and spring 2013 (34 stations). In total, we obtained 2599 mid- and late-stage phyllosomata (1742 in autumn, 857 in spring) of five palinurids (Panulirus argus, Panulirus guttatus, Panulirus laevicauda, Palinurellus gundlachi, Justitia longimana) and three scyllarids (Parribacus anta...
ICES Journal of Marine Science, 2015
The 10th International Conference and Workshop on Lobster Biology and Management was held in Canc... more The 10th International Conference and Workshop on Lobster Biology and Management was held in Cancún, Mexico, in May 2014. The papers included in this supplementary issue of the ICES Journal of Marine Science are a sample of the multidisciplinary nature of the conference and provide new knowledge of the biology, ecology, fisheries, and management and aquaculture of clawed, spiny, and slipper lobsters. The emphasis of the conference was climate change and its consequences for lobster biology, population dynamics, ecology, and fisheries. As noted in several papers, climate change is already affecting different lobster species by altering growth rates, sizes at maturity, the timing of reproductive processes, duration of larval development, and the timing and levels of settlement; by affecting key benthic habitat-forming species in settlement habitats; by increasing the risk of disease and impacting the behavioural ecology of lobsters, and by changing the spatial distribution of the stoc...
Fisheries Management and Ecology, 2014
Marine Policy, 2014
ABSTRACT This paper uses the Western Australian rock lobster, the first fishery certified by MSC,... more ABSTRACT This paper uses the Western Australian rock lobster, the first fishery certified by MSC, as a case study to discuss some of the environmental issues encountered in MSC׳s Principle 2 and the strategies implemented to address them. Experience with the certification of Western Australian rock lobster has highlighted the importance of; comprehensive documentation of current and historical information, monitoring and research, a transparent process of risk identification and the value of an independent advisory group to review risks and guide research directions.A comparison of other certified lobster fisheries worldwide revealed that third party certification consistently identified specific environmental issues, indicating that the strategies implemented to support the ongoing certification of the Western Australian rock lobster fishery may be relevant to other fisheries.
Marine Biology Research, 2013
Marine and Freshwater Research, 1997
The behaviour and growth of captive spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) under and not under the risk... more The behaviour and growth of captive spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) under and not under the risk of predation was investigated in four 9-m2 sea enclosures: two ‘predator enclosures’ (P1 and P2) into which one predator, the triggerfish Balistes vetula, was introduced; and two ‘non- predator enclosures’ (NP1 and NP2). Each enclosure contained a 1-m2 artificial shelter, and lobsters were provided with food ad libitum for 45 days, measured then left for a further 30 days with a reduced food supply. Inter- and intraspecific interactions and shelter use were recorded by means of underwater observations during day and night. Daytime shelter use by lobsters and fish was highest at noon and in the early morning. Activity of lobsters outside the shelters peaked around midnight in all four enclosures. Lobsters in P2 showed more activity and less shelter use than did those in all other enclosures. More predatorprey interactions were recorded in P1 than in P2, whereas intraspecific interactions...
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Papers by Enrique Lozano-Alvarez