| Research Abstract |
Population of zuwai crab (Chionoecetes opilio), one of the most important fishery resources in Japan, is now decreasing because of overfishing, environmental conditions and so on. Management of the organism was performed to recover its population. In addition, research to obtain biological and ecological information of this organism including its life cycle has been done. But, it is difficult to know the precise population size of larva of the organism because the shape of the larva is so resemble to that of beni-zuai crab (C. japonicus) that they could not be distinguished each other, and because they usually live in common sea areas. In this study, therefore, a new identification method was developed to distinguish the larva of C. opilio from that of C. japonicus, using a monoclonal antibody specifically reactive with that of C. opilio.
The results of the experiment are as follows :
1) A polyclonal antibody reactive with C. opilio was produced. This antibody was used for the establishment of a new immuno-staining technique (IS) to identify the larva of this organism. As a result, it was shown that 4 % of blockace in a blocking solution, 0.05 % of Tween 20 in a washing buffer, 0.032 ‰, of NiCl_2 in a color development solution were suitable for the IS.
2) A monoclonal antibody specifically reactive with the organism was developed successfully using the technique improved as described above. This technique with the antibody could distinguish the larvae of both species. Therefore, it must become a useful tool for the estimation of the population size of C. opilio larva.
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