Genotoype-by-sequencing of three geographically distinct populations of Olympia oysters, Ostrea lurida

Differential response to stress in Ostrea lurida as measured by gene expression

Olympia oysters are the only oyster native to the west coast of North America. The population within Puget Sound, WA has been decreasing significantly since the early 1900's. Current restoration efforts are focused on supplementing local populations with hatchery bred oysters. A recent study by Heare et al. (2017) has shown differences in stress response in oysters from different locations in P...

A Shell of Its Former Self: Can Ostrea Lurida Carpenter 1864 Larval Shells Reveal Information about a Recruit’s Birth Location?

Despite the interest in restoring remnant populations of the Olympia oyster, Ostrea lurida Carpenter 1864,† little is known about connectivity among populations. Identifying the sources of settling larvae could broaden our understanding of the degree to which particular populations are reliant on their neighbors for their persistence. Calcified structures such as the otoliths of fish and statol...

Development of a Medium Density Combined-Species SNP Array for Pacific and European Oysters (Crassostrea gigas and Ostrea edulis).

SNP arrays are enabling tools for high-resolution studies of the genetic basis of complex traits in farmed and wild animals. Oysters are of critical importance in many regions from both an ecological and economic perspective, and oyster aquaculture forms a key component of global food security. The aim of our study was to design a combined-species, medium density SNP array for Pacific oyster (C...

Preference Alters Consumptive Effects of Predators: Top-Down Effects of a Native Crab on a System of Native and Introduced Prey

Top-down effects of predators in systems depend on the rate at which predators consume prey, and on predator preferences among available prey. In invaded communities, these parameters might be difficult to predict because ecological relationships are typically evolutionarily novel. We examined feeding rates and preferences of a crab native to the Pacific Northwest, Cancer productus, among four ...

Development of the Gonads and the Sequence of the Sexual Phases in the California Oyster (Ostrea lurida)