DNA-based identification of

snailfish (Careproctus spp.)

egg masses found in the gill
cavities of king crabs (genus
Lithodes)
Jennifer Gardner
1
,
James W. Orr
2
, Duane E. Stevenson
2
, Ingrid Spies
2

1
School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington
2
Alaska Fishery Science Center, NOAA, Seattle, WA

Paraliparis pectoralis
Careproctus cypselurus
Rhinoliparis attenuatus
Careproctus furcellus
Elassodiscus tremebundus
Elassodiscus caudatus
Careproctus melanurus
North Pacific Lithodid
Crabs
Lithodes aequispinus Lopholithodes foraminatus
Paralomis multispinis Paralithodes camchaticus
Crab Eggs
Snailfish Eggs
Ovipositor
Records of Parasitized Crabs




References Hosts Parasites
Careproctus sp.
Paralomis, Lithodes Yau et al. 2000
Paralithodes
Lithodes
Lithodes
Lithodes
Paralomis, Lithodes
Lithodes
Paralithodes
Lopholithodes
Lopholithodes
Paralithodes
Paralithodes
Paralithodes
Careproctus furcellus,
Red snailfish
Somerton & Donaldson 1998
Careproctus furcellus,
Careproctus cypselurus
Poltev & Mukhametov 2009
Careproctus sp. Love & Shirley 1993
C. griseldea
Melville-Smith & Louw 1987
C. falklandensis Balbontin et al. 1979
Careproctus sp. Campodonico & Guzman 1977
Careproctus sp. Anderson & Cailliet 1974
Careproctus melanurus Peden & Corbett 1973
Careproctus melanurus Parrish 1972
Careproctus sp. Hunter 1969
C. sinensis = furcellus Vinogradov 1950
C. sinensis = furcellus Rass 1950
Eastern Aleutian Golden
King Crab Fishery
Processing plant in Dutch Harbor collected eggs.
Received 5 gallons of egg clusters preserved in
95% ethanol.
Samples
Genetic Identification
Voucher specimens collected for reference library


Embryos from egg masses sampled


Cytochrome Oxidase subunit 1 (COI) amplified
Candidate
Parasites
Careproctus melanurus
Candidate
Parasites
Careproctus cypselurus
Careproctus colletti Careproctus furcellus
Careproctus simus
Candidate
Parasites
Careproctus gilberti Careproctus ostentum
Careproctus sp. cf. gilberti
Careproctus candidus
Careproctus jordani
Candidate
Parasites
Careproctus ectenes
Careproctus curilensis
Careproctus rastrinus
Candidate
Parasites
Elassodiscus caudatus Elassodiscus tremebundus
Paraliparis pectoralis
Candidate
Parasites
Crystallichthys cyclospilus
Lipariscus nanus
Lopholiparis flerxi
Egg Mass Sampling
10 egg mass broadly sampled
4 identified for closer sampling
60 embryos per cluster
Location of each sampled egg was noted
Sectioning
Section 1 Lateral
Section 1 Medial
Section 2 Medial
Section 2 Lateral
Egg Mass Sampling
57 additional commercial fishery masses sampled
3 random embryos from each mass
14 masses collected on the 2012 Alaska Fishery Science Center
Groundfish Survey
4 random embryos from each mass sampled
Genetic Identification
Sequences were obtained for a total of 440 embryos from 75 masses







*C. rastrinus identifications were all for the Eastern North Pacific
population. It was the most probable id. However, we cannot rule out
C. ectenes or C. curilensis for masses collected in the Aleutian Islands.`
Species Number of Masses
C. rastrinus* 38
C. colletti 29
C. furcellus 7
C. simus 1
Careproctus colletti
Careproctus furcellus
Careproctus simus
Careproctus rastrinus
38
1
7
29
* Careproctus ectenes
Careproctus curilensis
Further Questions
Facultative or Obligatory relationship?
Are there other species involved?
How do other Careproctus species reproduce?
Sperm storage in snailfish?
Timing of depostion of eggs?
Selection of molting crabs?
Impact on the crab fishery?
Taxonomy of snailfish
Relationship of eastern and western C. rastrinus
Relationship of eastern C. rastrinus to C. ectenes and C. curilensis



Many Thanks
Dave Somerton
Amelia Whitcomb
Ted Piestch
Katherine Maslenikov
Rachel Arnold
University of Washington Fish Collection
Alaska Fishery Science Center
Question
s?