OCEAN LECTURE SERIES

"The Lobster Crawl: A Very Spiny Event"
• Serena Cox, Megan Davis, and Jerry Corsaut

About the 2005 Lecture

Dr. Serena Cox, Dr. Megan Davis, and Jerry Corsaut, from the Division of Aquaculture will introduce you to the Florida spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, and share with you some of its fascinating behavioral habits. You will learn about background information on wild fisheries, the complicated lobster life cycle, and some of the diverse habitats occupied by this lobster. Our research at Harbor Branch and worldwide will be highlighted with the goal of demonstrating that this valuable crustacean is one step closer to being commercially farmed. We will also elaborate on the unusual and intriguing lobster crawl.

This talk promises to be an entertaining, yet informative, look at one of Florida's most delicious crustaceans.

About the Speakers

Dr. Serena Cox is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Aquaculture Division. She completed her university training in New Zealand, with her Ph.D. focused on the biology and feeding behavior of larval spiny lobsters. Her research background has included topics as diverse as cold-adaptation in Antarctic fishes, electrophysiology, molecular genetics, larval lobster nutrition, and artificial diet development. Dr. Cox is working at Harbor Branch on the formulation of artificial diets for juvenile spiny lobsters, focusing specifically on feeding characteristics (e.g., mouthpart structures and function) and diet design issues (e.g., optimal pellet size, shape and taste).

Dr. Megan Davis is Division Director of Aquaculture. She has actively worked in the field of aquaculture for the past 25 years. Dr. Davis was the co-founder of a conch farm in the Turks and Caicos Islands, where she developed commercial applications for culturing queen conch from the egg to juvenile stage. As Division Director, she supervises education and training programs for national and international student and research development programs for conch, lobsters, food fish, and sustainable systems. Dr. Davis received her Ph.D. from the Department of Biology at Florida Institute of Technology in 1998.

Jerry Corsaut plays two different roles in the Aquaculture Division. As an independent electrical contractor, Jerry is responsible for installing most of the electrical systems in the aquaculture greenhouses. Jerry is also an avid aquaculturist and volunteers his time to the conch and spiny lobster research programs. He played a central role in the design of Harbor Branch's successful conch spawning system, as well as assisting with the collection, husbandry, and tank design of the spiny lobster research program. Jerry's lobster work includes post-larval collection and juvenile growout in HBOI, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.