PolyIC spat sampling at Point Whitney 20241204
Today I went to Point Whitney to sample seed from our PolyIC project and check on our other oysters at Point Whitney.
Relevant resources
I created a PolyIC larval project GitHub repo here. In this repo I have created directories for sample metadata, environmental data, and growth images.
Previous notebook posts for oyster work can be found here.
Previous notebook posts for PolyIC sampling can be found at the links below:
Poly IC sampling
Seed were received back at Point Whitney on 22 November 2024. They were placed in n=3 upwellers in the indoor system at Point Whitney. They stocked the control group at 0.9L of seed in each tank, which is the optimal production stocking density. There were fewer treated seed (due to less production from spawning, not due to treatment differences in survival) and these were stocked at 0.5-0.75L of seed in each tank.
Today we rearranged the seed to stock at 0.9L in all tanks. We allocated seed to n=2 tanks per treatment. We then mixed together any extra/overflow into n=2 tanks. I added cattle tag lables to the tanks.
These are now set in the indoor facility at the same densities so that growth opportunities will be the same between treatment.
- Tank 1: Control
- Tank 2: Control
- Tank 3: Mixed
- Tank 4: Treated
- Tank 5: Treated
- Tank 6: Mixed
Tanks 1-3 are in one upweller system. Tanks 4-6 are in a second upweller system. Both tanks recieve water from the same source.
One tank in each system has a Hobo temperature logger logging every 15 minutes.
We are going to keep them in the upwellers for the winter and will reassess space and location as they grow and space needs change at the hatchery.
I then sampled from a pool of each treatment (subsample taken from each tank during re-allocation) into RNA/DNA shield. I added 10-15 spat into each tube with 1,000 uL of shield and crushed with forceps in the tube.
I accidentally labeled these as tubes 61-90, when they should have been tubes 91-120. I’ll relabel these when I transport them to UW. They are stored in a freezer until then.
Sample metadata for all PolyIC samples can be found here.
Probe measurements
I took probe measurements today in all tanks. Measurements are recorded in GitHub as well.
| tank | date | time | temp.C | pH.nbs | sal.psu | initials | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outdoor_tray | 12/4/24 | 14:30 | 10.6 | 7.57 | 31.07 | ash | top |
| outdoor_tray | 12/4/24 | 14:30 | 10.7 | 7.54 | 30.32 | ash | middle |
| upweller | 12/4/24 | 14:30 | 7.4 | 7.79 | 24.08 | ash | broodstock |
| dock | 12/4/24 | 14:30 | 6.7 | 7.82 | 24.25 | ash | seed |
| PolyIC-tank1 | 12/4/24 | 14:30 | 7.4 | 7.77 | 24.19 | ash | PolyIC-larvae-control |
| PolyIC-tank2 | 12/4/24 | 14:30 | 7.4 | 7.73 | 24.21 | ash | PolyIC-larvae-control |
| PolyIC-tank4 | 12/4/24 | 14:30 | 7.4 | 7.74 | 24.22 | ash | PolyIC-larvae-treated |
| PolyIC-tank5 | 12/4/24 | 14:30 | 7.4 | 7.73 | 24.21 | ash | PolyIC-larvae-treated |
Temperature loggers
I downloaded temperature loggers and launched two of them to go in the new PolyIC tanks.
- SSN 22023398: Removed from outdoor upweller (no loggers remaining, all excess oysters), downloaded, and launched into PolyIC control group
- SSN 22023399: Removed from 10K lagoon (we had duplicate loggers there, one still remains), downloaded, and launched into PolyIC treated group
- SSN 22023395: Heath trays, remained in location
- SSN 22023407: 10K lagoon, remained in location
Logger downloaded files are on GitHub here and here.
Cleaning/organizing oysters at hatchery
Today I rinsed all oyster bags. Eventually the 10K seed need to be moved to larger/adult bags, but they are still too small and therefore need to stay in seed bags. The bags are looking pretty rough, so next time I’ll move them to new seed bags.
I rinsed all other oyster bags and added them all into one outdoor tank. This is mostly some broodstock from USDA from this last year, and Effort C bags. Next time I need to combine/move these to different bags so it is cleaner.
The 2024 USDA seed are getting big! Soon we will need to think about moving them to larger bins/locations. They may be ok for the winter since growth is slow.
To do
- Spring assessment of size and survival in Point Whitney outplants (Effort A)
- Transfer USDA POGS 2024 families in heath trays to new location
- Combine all Effort C bags if we aren’t using, or bring to UW
- Transfer 10K seed to new bags and keep in the lagoon
Notebook photos
