Understanding marine larval dispersal in a broadcast-spawning invertebrate: A dispersal modelling approach for optimising spat collection of the Fijian black-lip pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera

PLoS One. 2020 Jun 18;15(6):e0234605. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234605. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Fisheries and aquaculture industries worldwide remain reliant on seed supply from wild populations, with their success and sustainability dependent on consistent larval recruitment. Larval dispersal and recruitment in the marine environment are complex processes, influenced by a multitude of physical and biological factors. Biophysical modelling has increasingly been used to investigate dispersal and recruitment dynamics, for optimising management of fisheries and aquaculture resources. In the Fiji Islands, culture of the black-lip pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera) is almost exclusively reliant on wild-caught juvenile oysters (spat), through a national spat collection programme. This study used a simple Lagrangian particle dispersal model to investigate current-driven larval dispersal patterns, identify potential larval settlement areas and compare simulated with physical spat-fall, to inform targeted spat collection efforts. Simulations successfully identified country-wide patterns of potential larval dispersal and settlement from 2012-2015, with east-west variations between bi-annual spawning peaks and circulation associated with El Niño Southern Oscillation. Localised regions of larval aggregation were also identified and compared to physical spat-fall recorded at 28 spat collector deployment locations. Significant and positive correlations at these sites across three separate spawning seasons (r(26) = 0.435; r(26) = 0.438; r(26) = 0.428 respectively, p = 0.02), suggest high utility of the model despite its simplicity, for informing future spat collector deployment. Simulation results will further optimise black-lip pearl oyster spat collection activity in Fiji by informing targeted collector deployments, while the model provides a versatile and highly informative toolset for the fishery management and aquaculture of other marine taxa with similar life histories.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animal Distribution*
  • Animals
  • Aquaculture / methods*
  • Fiji
  • Larva / physiology
  • Pinctada / physiology*

Grants and funding

This study was conducted within and funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR - www.aciar.gov.au/) project FIS/2009/057: "Developing pearl industry based livelihoods in the western Pacific" led by PS at the University of the Sunshine Coast. The research was carried out during an ACIAR John Allwright Fellowship awarded to ML. The funding source (ACIAR) had no direct involvement in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of the data, nor the decision to submit this article for publication.