Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T13:03:54.551Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Importance of Bacteria in Laboratory Experiments on Rearing the Larvae of Ostrea Edulis (L.)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

P. R. Walne
Affiliation:
Fisheries Experiment Station, Conway

Extract

Preliminary experiments had suggested that the extent of the development of the bacterial flora which develops when sea water is confined in small vessels is an important factor in the laboratory culture of oyster larvae. In the experiments reported in this paper the growth and settlement of oyster larvae was compared in controls of normal sea water with those in which the bacterial flora was controlled with antibiotics.

A concentration of 50 i.u. of the sodium salt of penicillin G per ml. suppressed bacterial growth for at least 2 days and, in a series of experiments using fifteen different broods of larvae, significantly (P>0·001) more spat were obtained in those to which penicillin had been added than in the controls.

A mixture of 50 units of penicillin G and 0·05 mg streptomycin sulphate was tried in three series of experiments. This completely suppressed the development of bacteria for at least nine days. In all three series many more spat were obtained than in the controls, but in only one series was there more spat than in the comparable penicillin experiment. It is suggested that when the bacterial population is very vigorous, or perhaps when certain species are present, this mixture will be more useful than penicillin alone. Experiments with other concentrations of penicillin, and with streptomycin and chloromycetin alone were not successful.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1958

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Collier, A.Ray, S. M.Magnitzky, A. & Bell, J. O. 1953. Effect of dissolved organic substances on oysters. Fish. Bull. U.S., Vol. 54, No. 84.Google Scholar
Collyer, D. 1957. Viability and glycogen reserves in the newly liberated larvae of Ostrea edulis L. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 36, pp. 335–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cviic, V. 1953. The bactericidal and bacteriostatical action of antibiotics on marine bacteria. I. Penicillin and streptomycin. Acta adriat., Vol. 5, No. 7, pp. 135–66.Google Scholar
Davis, H. C. & Chanley, P. E. 1956. Effects of some dissolved substances on bivalve larvae. Proc. nat. Shellfish. Ass., Vol. 46, pp. 5974.Google Scholar
Gross, F. 1937. Notes on the culture of some marine plankton organisms. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 21, pp. 753–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loosanoff, V. L. 1954. New advances in the study of bivalve larvae. Amer. Scient., Vol. 42, No. 4, pp. 607–24.Google Scholar
Mainland, D.Herrera, L. & Sutcliffe, M. I. 1956. Tables for Use with Binomial Samples. New York.Google Scholar
Oppenheimer, C. H. 1955. The effect of marine bacteria onthe development and hatching of pelagic fish eggs, and the control of such bacteria by antibiotics. Copeia, Vol. 1, pp. 43–9.Google Scholar
Spencer, C. P. 1952. On the use of antibiotics for isolating bacteria-free culturesof marine phytoplankton organisms. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 31, pp. 97106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walne, P. R. 1956. Bacteria in experiments on rearing oyster larvae. Nature, Lond., Vol. 178, p. 91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, D. P. 1951. A biological difference between natural sea waters. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 30, pp. 126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, D. P. & Armstrong, F. A. J. 1952. Further experiments on biological differences between natural sea waters. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 31, pp. 335–49.Google Scholar
Wilson, D. P. & Armstrong, F. A. J. 1954. Biological differences between sea waters: experiments in 1953. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 33, pp. 347–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zobell, C. E. 1943. The effect of solid surfaces upon bacterial activity. J. Bact., Vol. 46, pp. 3956.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zobell, C. E. 1946. Marine Microbiology. Waltham, Mass.Google Scholar
Zobell, C. E. & Anderson, D. Q. 1936. Observations on the multiplication of bacteria in different volumes of stored sea water. Biol. Bull., Woods Hole, Vol. 71, pp. 324–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar