Scared strong: Enhancing oyster resilience for aquaculture and restoration by inducing oysters to grow stronger shells

Many prey species can adjust morphology to reduce predation risk in response to predator cues. Enhancing prey defenses using predator cues may improve survival of cultivated species and enhance species restoration efforts, but assessment of such benefits at industrially relevant scales is needed. We examined how raising a model foundation species, oysters (Crassostrea virginica), under commercial hatchery conditions with cues from two common predator species can improve survival across a variety of predator regimes and environmental conditions. Oysters responded to predators by growing stronger shells than controls, but had subtle variations in shell characteristics depending on the predator species. Predator-induced changes significantly increased oyster survival up to 600% and survivorship was maximized when cue source was matched with local predator regime. Overall, these findings demonstrate the utility of using predator cues to enhance the survival of target species across landscapes and highlight the opportunity to employ nontoxic methods to control pest-based mortality. Data were collected by Dr. Benjamin Belgrad, Dr. Lee Smee, Dr. Jessica Lunt, Mrs. Sarah Roney, Mr. William Knudson, and Mr. Andrew Powell.