Heather Koopman
Biology and Marine Biology
University of North Carolina Wilmington
601 S. College Road
Wilmington, NC 28401
910.962.7199
koopmanh@uncw.edu

This project is continuing exploratory work funded by Sea Grant in 2007 (DV-07-009) to evaluate various factors influencing the quality of eggs produced by American lobsters. Larger lobster eggs have been shown to have higher lipid contents, faster growth, and result in larger larvae; and that the lipids and fatty acids comprising the fat content of an egg will have a significant influence on growth rates and size of larvae at hatching, which increases the probability of survival to adulthood. In this preliminary survey, University of North Carolina researcher Heather Koopman found that large lobsters in fact did not have the greatest amount of lipid in their eggs and had consistently lower levels of omega-3 fatty acids than small or medium lobsters. Koopman found no obvious relationship between female size and egg size, information which could influence the harvest policies of the lobster industry.

Based on the first year of data, Koopman realized she needed to take samples from more lobsters and do additional analyses on the eggs. This current funding is supporting further sample collection and analysis of lobster egg size, lipid content, energy content, and seasonal variation.

Total: $3,000