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July 2015 - June 2018
June 2014 - May 2017
Publications
Publications (150)
Knowledge of genetic structure at the finest level is essential for the conservation of genetic resources. Despite no visible barriers limiting gene flow, significant genetic structure has been shown in marine species. The common cockle (Cerastoderma edule) is a bivalve of great commercial and ecological value inhabiting the Northeast Atlantic Ocea...
The concept of this book originated from a conference held in Dingle,
County Kerry, Ireland, on June 5-8, 2017. The conference, entitled ‘Sea,
Land, and Spirit: Coastal Environment in the West of Ireland’, offered a
unique multi-disciplinary forum for scholars who have a primary interest in
the coastal environment as a shared national treasure to c...
Microbial organisms can persist in the marine environment in a number of ways, for example during a free-living life stage or colonising the surface of plankton. These microorganisms include pathogens which may adversely impact the aquaculture and shellfishery sectors. Microbial diversity is well documented in nearshore bivalve culture environments...
Parasite species richness is influenced by a range of drivers including host related factors (e.g. host size) and environmental factors (e.g. seawater temperature). However, identification of modulators of parasite species richness remains one of the great unanswered questions in ecology. The common cockle Cerastoderma edule is renowned for its div...
UV-B (λ280–315 nm) radiation is an important aquatic ecosystem regulator which influences animal motility and orientation, immune health, and mating behaviour. However, UV-B can also induce adverse genotoxic effects on microbial, plant and animal life, including on surface water pathogens such as Vibrio species which can be pathogenic to humans and...
Global shipping facilitates the introduction of invasive species and parasites via ballast water and hull fouling. Regional management of invasives may be strengthened by identifying the major routes in a network, to allow for targeted ship inspections. This study used cargo shipping records to establish the connectivity of shipping routes between...
Phylum Mollusca is a large and diverse group of invertebrate protostomes of over 85,000 species including gastropods, cephalopods and bivalves. Molluscs are the largest marine phylum. Marine molluscs are economically important as a high protein food source for humans and provide ecosystem services including nutrient recycling, carbon sequestration,...
Vibrio bacteria are one of the greatest threats to aquaculture, with Vibrio-associated mass mortality events occurring in all life stages worldwide. Vibrio aestuarianus is particularly problematic in Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas cultures. A diagnostic method used to detect V. aestuarianus is quantitative (q)PCR and a confirmatory method is fluo...
Shellfish, including the key species the common cockle Cerastoderma edule, living and feeding in waters contaminated by infectious agents can accumulate them within their tissues. It is unknown if microbial pathogens and microparasites can subsequently be transmitted via concomitant predation to their consumers, including shorebirds. The objective...
A better understanding of growth drivers in shellfish populations including the common cockle Cerastoderma edule is essential, as their future is challenged by unsustainable fishing practices and climate change. In this study the spatial and temporal variabilities in common cockle growth across latitudes were assessed and compared with historical d...
Despite coinfections being recognized as the rule in animal populations, most studies focus on single pathogen systems. Pathogen interaction networks and the drivers of such associations are lacking in disease ecology studies. Common cockle Cerastoderma edule populations are exposed to a great diversity of pathogens, thus making them a good model s...
Abstract Reproduction and parasites have significant impacts on marine animal populations globally. This study aimed to investigate the associative effects of host reproduction and a host–parasite interplay on a marine bivalve, along a geographic gradient of latitude. Cockles Cerastoderma edule were sampled from five European sites (54°N to 40°N),...
Macroalgae are the primary source of non-animal sulphated polysaccharides (SPs) in the marine environment with fucoidans derived from brown algae (Phaeophyta) and carrageenans from red algae (Rhodophyta). Much research has been carried out on SP effects on Asian shrimp species (genera Penaeus and Metapenaeus) but their effect on commercially import...
Ascidian tunicates frequently display rapid expansion when introduced beyond their native range and are considered successful invaders. This invasive potential may be exacerbated by a warming climate, allowing for the occupation of environmental niches previously held by native species. Research into tunicate invasion ecology is prevalent, but less...
Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) uses light-specific wavelengths and nontoxic photosensitisers to eradicate target microbial cells. Bivalve hatchery systems are challenged with bacterial contamination of microalgae feed, which can be detrimental to all production life stages. The objectives of this study were to investigate the antimicrobi...
Although research into the ecology and impacts of invasive species is prevalent, there are knowledge gaps relating to the role of invasive species in parasite transmission. This work synthesises invasive host–parasite interactions and impacts, using marine bivalves as a model group, to consider how global movement of shellfish consignments for aqua...
This study presents data from an in-depth proximate compositional analysis of three marine fish species: blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou), boarfish (Capros aper) and Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus). These fish contained significant amounts of protein (16–17%), lipids (4–11%) and minerals (2–6% ash). The proteins, particularly from boarfis...
Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is an important environmental factor that can have an impact directly, or indirectly, on the health of organisms. UVR also has the potential to inactivate pathogens in surface waters. As a result, UVR can alter host-pathogen relationships. Bivalve species are threatened by various pathogens. Here, we assessed the impacts...
Background:
The common cockle Cerastoderma edule plays an important ecological role in the marine ecosystem both as an infaunal engineer (reef forming and bioturbation) and a food source for protected bird species in its European range. Cockle beds are found in close proximity to aquaculture and fisheries operations, which can be "hot spots" for i...
Knowledge mobilisation is required to “bridge the gap” between research, policy and practice. This activity is dependent on the amount, richness and quality of the data published. To understand the impact of a changing climate on commercial species, stakeholder communities require better knowledge of their past and current situations. The common co...
Throughout Europe the blue mussel Mytilus edulis is dominant in the north while the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis prevails in the south. Studies from the 1970s to the late 2000′s documented the northward range expansion of M. galloprovincialis in Europe and predicted this trend to continue with climate change. The objectives of thi...
Background: Early life stress is a key predisposing factor for depression and anxiety disorders. Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI) are frequently used as the first line of pharmacology treatment for depression but have several negative qualities, i.e. a delay or absence of effectiveness and negative side-effects. Therefore, there is a...
Synopsis
European populations of the native flat oyster, Ostrea edulis, have been heavily depleted by two protozoan parasites, Marteila refringens and Bonamia ostreae, with mortalities of up to 90% reported in naïve populations. However, in studies carried out over a 10-year period, researching the parasite–host relationship of B. ostreae and O. ed...
The Phylum Haplosporidia consists of four genera (Minchinia, Haplosporidium, Urosporidium and Bonamia) that are endoparasitic protists of a wide range of marine invertebrates including commercial bivalve species. Characterization of haplosporidian species remains a challenge due to their patchy spatial and temporal distributions, host-restricted oc...
The effects of feeding an 80% plant protein diet, with and without fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) supplementation, on the growth and gut health of Atlantic salmon were investigated. Fish were fed either (A) a control diet containing 35% fishmeal, (B) an 80% plant protein diet with 15% fishmeal, (C) an 80% plant protein diet with 5% fishmeal and 10%...
Haplosporidian protist parasites are a major concern for aquatic animal health, as they have been responsible for some of the most significant marine epizootics on record. Despite their impact on food security, aquaculture and ecosystem health, characterizing haplosporidian diversity, distributions and host range remains challenging. In this study,...
Ostreid herpesvirus-1 microVar (OsHV-1 µVar) has been responsible for significant mortalities globally in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. While the impact of this virus on the Pacific oyster has been significant, this pathogen may have wider ecosystem consequences. It has not been definitively determined how the virus is sustaining itself in...
The body of work relating to the gut microbiota of fish is dwarfed by that on humans and mammals. However, it is a field that has had historical interest and has grown significantly along with the expansion of the aquaculture industry and developments in microbiome research. Research is now moving quickly in this field. Much recent focus has been o...
A total of 12 adult European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax were tagged with pop‐off satellite archival tags (PSAT) in Irish coastal waters and in offshore waters in the north‐east Celtic Sea between 2015 and 2016. Archived data were successfully recovered from five of the 12 tags deployed, three from fish released in inshore Irish waters and two fr...
Seaweeds contain a number of health enhancing and antimicrobial bioactive compounds including sulfated polysaccharides (SP). In the present study, SP extracted from a European red seaweed Irish moss Chondrus crispus was chemically analyzed, SP content extracted and the immune-response effect on wild Irish mussels Mytilus spp. investigated for the f...
The Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas contributes significantly to global aquaculture; however, C. gigas culture has been affected by ostreid herpesvirus-1 (OsHV-1) and variants. The dynamics of how the virus maintains itself at culture sites is unclear and the role of carriers, reservoirs or hosts is unknown. Both wild and cultured mussels Mytilus...
Enzymatic hydrolysis of fish proteins has been employed as a principle method for converting under-utilised fish into valuable products for the pharmaceutical and health food industries. In this study, six commercial enzymes were tested for their ability to make fish protein hydrolysate powders from whole blue whiting. The chemical and functional p...
The world’s fish stocks, although renewable, are a finite resource. European capture fisheries have remained stagnant in terms of volume for many years. To remain profitable, fishers are looking for new opportunities to diversify, reduce costs, and maximize profits. The targeted fishing of boarfish (Capros aper) in Europe is an excellent example of...
The non-native barnacle species Austrominius modestus was first recorded in Ireland, close to Lough Hyne marine nature reserve in 1957. This species was not recorded inside the Lough until 1980, but by 2001 was the dominant intertidal barnacle within the reserve. It has been suggested that increases in the abundance of this species at other locatio...
The edible sea urchin, Paracentrotus lividus, is an Atlanto-Mediterranean species that is of commercial interest for its gonads in Europe and Pacific/Asian countries. Laminaria digitata, a common food source for sea urchins, contains known compounds, which are beneficial to numerous organisms. The objective of this study was to determine whether us...
The occurrence of OsHV-1, a herpes virus causing mass mortality in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas was investigated with the aim to select individuals with different susceptibility to the infection. Naïve spat transferred to infected areas and juveniles currently being grown at those sites were analyzed using molecular and histology approaches...
The flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) is one of the most appreciated molluscs in Europe, but natural beds have been greatly reduced due to harvesting and the effects of the parasite Bonamia ostreae. Characterization of current wild populations is required to develop long-term bed restoration programmes by enhancing genetic diversity and tolerance to bona...
Space can be a limiting factor in intertidal communities and competition for this resource plays a role in determining community composition. Invasive species are known to be opportunistic, and are capable of rapidly colonising free space. Since its introduction to Europe, over 70 years ago, the invasive barnacle species, Austrominius (=Elminius) m...
The European sea squirt Ascidiella aspersa is a solitary tunicate native to the northeastern Atlantic, commonly found in shallow and sheltered marine ecosystems where it is capable of forming large clumps and outcompeting other invertebrate fauna at settlement. To date, there have been relatively few studies looking at the reproductive biology and...
The softshell clam Mya arenaria (L.) is currently widespread on the east and west coasts of North America. This bivalve also occurs on western European shores, where the post-Pleistocene origin of the species, whether introduced or relict, has been debated. We collected 320 M. arenaria from 8 locations in Europe and North America. Clams (n = 84) fr...
In this study, the ability of oyster larvae, brooded in the pallial cavity of the parent oyster, to become infected in the pallial fluid, which is influenced by the brooding oyster and surrounding environment, was investigated. Larvae were collected over three summers from three areas around Ireland. Samples were screened for the presence of Bonami...
THE OYSTERECOVER PROJECT In May 2010, it was launched a Seventh Framework Programme funded project, OYSTERECOVER, aimed at establishing the scientific bases and technical procedures and standards to recover the European flat production through strategies to tackle the main constraint, bonamiosis. It involved 15 European partners, eight researching...
In vivo experiments were conducted with laboratory cultures of toxic Microcystis aeruginosa, to assess the potential
impacts of microcystins (MC) on the immune system of the freshwater zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha.Mussels were fed three
toxic cyanobacterial strains, with different toxin profiles (presence of MC-LR and MC-LF) and one nontoxic r...
During October and November of 2011 and 2012, 229 hermit crabs, Pagurus bernhardus, were randomly collected from the intertidal shore at three locations along the south west coast of Ireland. This is the first survey to assess the health status of this crustacean in Ireland. Carapace length and the sex of each crab were recorded. Crabs were screene...
Although molecular ecology of macroparasites is still in its infancy, general patterns are beginning to emerge, e.g. that the most vagile host in a complex life cycle is the main determinant of the population genetic structure of their parasites. This insight stems from the observation that populations of parasites with only freshwater hosts are mo...
The soft shell clam, Mya arenaria, and the razor clam, Ensis siliqua, are widely distributed in Irish waters. Though the reproductive biology and other aspects of the physiology of these species has been previously investigated, little or no data are currently available on their health status. As this knowledge is essential for correct management o...
Expansion of the aquaculture industry has been accompanied by outbreaks of disease from an ever increasing range of pathogens. Such outbreaks pose serious limitations to the growth and sustainability of the seafood industry, necessitating the development of alternative methods to combat disease. Immunostimulants are currently being pursued as an ef...
The spread of the protozoan parasite Bonamia ostreae is of major concern to the European flat oyster Ostrea edulis industry. Many studies have looked at the sensitivity of individual methods available to screen for B. ostreae, but in this study, 3 separate laboratories examined 4 methods of diagnosis currently used routinely in laboratories: heart...
Organisms of the genus Bonamia are intracellular protistan parasites of oysters. To date, 4 species have been described (B. ostreae, B. exitiosa, B. perspora and B. roughleyi), although the status of B. roughleyi is controversial. Introduction especially of B. ostreae and B. exitiosa to naïve host populations has been shown to cause mass mortalitie...
The protistan pathogen Bonamia ostreae was first detected in Ostrea edulis at Rossmore, Cork Harbour, on the south coast of Ireland in 1987. A selective breeding programme commenced in 1988 by Atlantic Shellfish Ltd. to produce B. ostreae-resistant oysters using 3 to 4 yr old survivors as broodstock for controlled spawning in land-based spatting po...
Thresholds occur in the dynamics of many biological communities. Here we
model a persistence type threshold which has been shown experimentally to exist
in hyperparasitised flukes in the cockle, a shellfish. Our model consists of a
periodically driven slow-fast host-parasite system of equations for a slow
flukes population and a fast Unikaryon hype...
Increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide are leading to physical changes in marine environments including parallel decreases in ocean pH and increases in seawater temperature. This study examined the impacts of a six month exposure to combined decreased pH and increased temperature on the immune response and disease status in the blue mussel, Mytilu...
The protozoan parasite Bonamia ostreae has decimated Ostrea edulis stocks throughout Europe over the past four decades. A study of two stocks of O. edulis in Ireland with varying periods of exposure to B. ostreae, 5 years and 22 years, was undertaken. The objective of the study was to determine if varying lengths of exposure would translate into ob...
Both wild and cultured mussels (Mytilus edulis, Mytilus galloprovincialis and hybrids), are found along most of the Irish coastline. M. edulis is widespread along all Irish coasts and is the only mussel species present on both the east coast of Ireland and the Welsh coast in the Irish Sea. M. galloprovincialis and hybrids are found along the Irish...
The Irish Sea and surrounding regions are a rich source of shellfish production as a result of captive fishing and aquaculture. Key species produced include lobsters (Homarus gammarus), edible crabs (Cancer pagurus), langoustines (Nephrops norvegicus), flat oysters (Ostrea edulis), cockles (Cerestoderma edule) and blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). The...
Knowledge of the reproductive cycle of a species is a prerequisite for sustainable management of a fishery. The infaunal marine bivalve, Ensis siliqua, is a commercially important species in Europe, and is exploited in many countries, including Ireland, where it is sold by wet weight. Seasonal variations in the reproductive cycle of subtidal razor...
The Irish Sea represents a valuable resource to numerous industries, communities, and other stakeholders particularly in the areas of shellfisheries and aquaculture, energy development and ecosystem services. Climate change poses a substantial threat to marine environments in the region, with impacts exacerbated by struggles for ever limited space...
Ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) and variants (OsHV-1 var, OsHV-1 μvar, Irish genotype) have had a significant impact on the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, industry worldwide and on the survival of larvae and juveniles of several other bivalve species in Europe. Diagnostic techniques used to screen for this pathogen include histology, polymerase...
Ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) and variants (OsHV-1 var, OsHV-1 mvar, Irish genotype) have had a significant impact on the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, industry worldwide and on the survival of larvae and juveniles of several other bivalve species in Europe. Diagnostic techniques used to screen for this pathogen include histology, polymerase...
Establishing predator–prey relationships and determining competitive interactions
within the plankton community remains a central aim of zooplankton ecology. Using
bivalve larvae as a model system, a DNA-based dietary approach using general
eukaryotic primers was evaluated. Prey DNA was preferentially amplified using a
predator-specific endonucleas...
This study aimed to examine the pathobiology of a haplosporidian-like infection in juvenile (pre-recruit) edible crabs (Cancer pagurus) from two locations in South West Wales, U.K. Infected crabs showed no external symptoms of the disease but dissection revealed an infected and hypertrophic antennal gland. Histological examination showed extensive...