An artificial bait and its application in trochus fishing

Abstract

The application relates to the field of marine biological baiting technology, and specifically discloses an artificial baiting agent and application thereof in Morula conus fishing. The artificial baiting agent comprises one or more of glutamic acid, taurine, inositol and lactic acid. Four key active ingredients for Morula conus baiting are identified from shark meat, and one or more of the four key active ingredients, namely glutamic acid, taurine, inositol and lactic acid, can be used as the artificial baiting agent, which can achieve good baiting effect on Morula conus. When the four active ingredients are used together, the baiting effect can be equivalent to that of traditional shark meat, the dependence on scarce shark meat resources is effectively reduced, the problem of unstable effect of traditional baiting materials is solved, and important scientific basis and technical support are provided for chemical ecology research of Morula conus and development of baiting agents for other marine mollusks.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of marine organism feeding technology, and more specifically, to an artificial feeding attractant and its application in whelk harvesting. Background Technology

[0002] Whelks are an important economic shellfish in northern waters, possessing high edible and economic value. With continuously growing market demand, they have become a significant target for fishing in northern my country, with an annual yield of tens of thousands of tons and a value of billions of yuan. In whelk fishing, attractant techniques are the primary method. Traditionally, animal baits such as shark meat and fish viscera are used as attractants, releasing chemical signals to attract whelks and draw them into traps. Shark meat, due to its strong attractant effect, is widely used in whelk fishing and is recognized in the industry as a highly efficient attractant material.

[0003] While traditional baiting methods utilize the whelk's keen chemosensory abilities to create a chemical gradient field in seawater, guiding it towards the fishing area, several problems remain. For example, traditional bait resources such as shark meat are becoming increasingly scarce, leading to rising prices, and their acquisition is strictly controlled by environmental policies. Furthermore, these natural materials are perishable, difficult to preserve, and require cold chain transportation, significantly increasing costs. In addition, the composition of natural baits is unstable, resulting in batch-to-batch variations in baiting effectiveness, making it difficult to guarantee the stability and predictability of fishing operations.

[0004] To address this, researchers have attempted to isolate and identify key palatability-inducing active ingredients from natural, high-efficiency materials. Through systematic component screening and bioactivity verification, they aim to determine specific active molecules and develop artificial palatability enhancers. However, due to the current lack of accurate identification capabilities for active ingredients, it is impossible to fully determine which chemical substances in natural, high-efficiency materials like shark meat are the true palatability-inducing active ingredients. Consequently, existing artificial palatability enhancers not only fail to meet the palatability standards of natural, high-efficiency materials but also cannot achieve standardized production and cost control, leading the industry to still rely heavily on the overall use of natural materials. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this application provides an artificial feeding attractant and its application in whelk harvesting.

[0006] Firstly, this application provides an artificial feeding attractant, which adopts the following technical solution:

[0007] An artificial appetite stimulant comprising one or more of glutamic acid, taurine, inositol, and lactic acid.

[0008] Preferably, the artificial palatability enhancer includes taurine, glutamic acid, creatine, and lactic acid.

[0009] By employing the aforementioned technical solution, this application identified four key active ingredients in shark meat that exert a feeding-attracting effect on whelks based on metabolomics analysis: glutamic acid, taurine, inositol, and lactic acid. The feeding-attracting effects of these four active ingredients, used individually and in different combinations, were then verified. Comparative experimental results showed that glutamic acid, taurine, inositol, and lactic acid, when used individually, all exerted a feeding-attracting effect on whelks, with the feeding-attracting effect of these four active ingredients showing a decreasing order: taurine > glutamic acid > inositol > lactic acid. Furthermore, experimental data indicated that among various combinations, the combined use of these four active ingredients not only significantly outperformed the effects of a single active ingredient but also rivaled the feeding-attracting effect of traditional shark meat. This is mainly because the combined use of these four active ingredients fully leverages their synergistic effect, effectively enhancing the feeding response intensity and activity of whelks, demonstrating excellent feeding-attracting performance.

[0010] In its metabolomics study of shark meat, this application did not employ the traditional method of identifying key substances solely based on their content. Instead, it first conducted a contribution analysis of the metabolomics components, selecting the top 300 most abundant substances. Then, it performed combined PCA and CV analyses on these 300 substances to screen for those with the most stable chemical properties and high content. Finally, the screened substances were classified, ultimately identifying four key active ingredients: glutamic acid, taurine, inositol, and lactic acid. The challenge of this research and analysis process lies in screening for substances with both high content and stable properties. Through this process, the four key active ingredients identified in this application—glutamic acid, taurine, inositol, and lactic acid—possess both good appetite-inducing effects and good stability, thus increasing the appetite-inducing time.

[0011] Based on the above, the artificial attractant of this application, compared with traditional natural attractants, not only has lower raw material prices and is easier to obtain, reducing dependence on scarce shark meat resources, but also enables standardized production. It has a significant cost advantage in large-scale applications, helping to reduce costs in the whelk harvesting industry. Furthermore, the artificial attractant of this application is chemically formulated, easy to store, does not require cold chain transportation, and only needs to be dissolved in seawater for use. Its simple and easy operation makes it suitable for application in actual fishing production.

[0012] Secondly, this application provides an application of an artificial feeding attractant in whelk harvesting, which adopts the following technical solution: an application of an artificial feeding attractant in whelk harvesting, wherein the concentrations of glutamic acid, taurine, inositol and lactic acid in the artificial feeding attractant are all 0.1 mol / L.

[0013] By adopting the above technical solution, this application controls the concentrations of glutamic acid, taurine, inositol, and lactic acid at 0.1 mol / L, enabling the artificial palatability enhancer to achieve optimal feeding effects. If the concentration is higher or lower than 0.1 mol / L, the feeding effect decreases to varying degrees. Specifically, this application conducted experiments on the feeding effect of taurine, a key component in the artificial palatability enhancer, at different concentrations. The experimental results show that taurine has the best feeding effect at a concentration of 0.1 mol / L. Using this as a reference, the feeding effects of the other three substances at a concentration of 0.1 mol / L were also verified. The experimental results show that the other three substances also have the best feeding effect at a concentration of 0.1 mol / L.

[0014] In summary, this application has the following beneficial technical effects:

[0015] 1. This application systematically identified four key active ingredients for attracting snails from shark meat, and used one or more of these four key active ingredients—glutamic acid, taurine, inositol, and lactic acid—as artificial attractants. All of these ingredients had a good attractant effect on snails. Furthermore, when these four active ingredients were used together, their attractant effect was comparable to that of traditional shark meat, effectively reducing dependence on scarce shark meat resources and solving the problem of unstable effects of traditional attractants. This provides important scientific basis and technical support for the chemical ecology research of snails and the development of other marine mollusc attractants.

[0016] 2. This application further verified the optimal feeding-inducing concentration of the four key active ingredients and found that the best feeding-inducing effect was achieved when the concentration of the four key active ingredients was controlled at 0.1 mol / L.

[0017] 3. Compared with traditional natural attractants, the artificial attractant of this application is not only cheaper and easier to obtain, but also enables standardized production, giving it a significant cost advantage in large-scale applications and helping to reduce the cost of whelk harvesting; 4. The artificial attractant of this application is formulated with chemical components, is easy to store, does not require cold chain transportation, and only needs to be dissolved in seawater for use. It is simple and easy to operate and suitable for application in actual fishing production. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1The results of the shark meat feeding effect test in this application are shown in Figure A, where A is a photograph of the experimental setup and snail behavior; B and D are the statistical analysis results of reaction time, displacement distance and movement speed, respectively. Blank represents the control group and Sharkmeat represents the shark meat treatment group. The data are expressed as mean ± standard error. "**" represents p < 0.01 and "***" represents p < 0.001.

[0019] Figure 2 This is a result diagram of the feeding effect test in Example 1 of this application, where A is a photograph of the experimental device and snail behavior; B and D are statistical analysis results of reaction time, displacement distance and moving speed, respectively. Blank represents the control group, Glu represents the L-glutamic acid feeding attractant treatment group, and the data are expressed as mean ± standard error. "**" represents p < 0.01, and "***" represents p < 0.001.

[0020] Figure 3 This is a result diagram of the feeding effect test in Example 2 of this application, where A is a photograph of the experimental device and snail behavior; B and D are statistical analysis results of reaction time, displacement distance and movement speed, respectively. Blank represents the control group, and Taurine represents the taurine feeding attractant treatment group. The data are expressed as mean ± standard error. "**" represents p < 0.01, and "***" represents p < 0.001.

[0021] Figure 4 This is a result diagram of the feeding effect test in Example 3 of this application, where A is a photograph of the experimental device and snail behavior; B and D are statistical analysis results of reaction time, displacement distance and movement speed, respectively. Blank represents the control group, and Inositol represents the inositol feeding agent treatment group. The data are expressed as mean ± standard error. "**" represents p < 0.01, and "***" represents p < 0.001.

[0022] Figure 5 This is a graph showing the results of the feeding effect test in Example 4 of this application. In the graph, A is a photograph of the experimental device and snail behavior; B and D are the statistical analysis results of reaction time, displacement distance and movement speed, respectively. Blank represents the control group and Lactic acid represents the lactic acid feeding attractant treatment group. The data are expressed as mean ± standard error. "*" means p < 0.05.

[0023] Figure 6 This is a result diagram of the feeding effect test in Example 5 of this application, where A is a photograph of the experimental device and snail behavior; B and D are statistical analysis results of reaction time, displacement distance and moving speed, respectively; Blank represents the control group; Mix represents the treatment group with a compound feeding attractant of four active ingredients; the data are expressed as mean ± standard error; "***" represents p < 0.001.

[0024] Figure 7 This is a graph showing the results of tests on the appetite-stimulating effect of taurine at different concentrations. A and C represent the statistical analysis results of reaction time, displacement distance, and movement speed, respectively. 1M represents the appetite-stimulating effect of 1 mol / L taurine (i.e., Comparative Example 1). -1 M represents the appetite-stimulating effect of 0.1 mol / L taurine (i.e., Example 2), 10 -2 M represents the appetite-stimulating effect of 0.01 mol / L taurine (i.e., Comparative Example 2), 10 -3 M represents the appetite stimulating effect of 0.001 mol / L taurine (i.e., Comparative Example 3). Data are expressed as mean ± standard error, where "**" represents p < 0.01, "***" represents p < 0.001, and "****" represents p < 0.0001. Detailed Implementation

[0025] All raw materials used in this application are commercially available products. Among them, whelks were collected from the Zhangzidao Group Breeding Farm; L-glutamic acid and taurine were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich, Inc. of the United States; and lactic acid and inositol were purchased from Shanghai Maclean Biochemical Technology Co., Ltd.

[0026] All chemical reagents used in this application are of analytical grade.

[0027] <Example 1>

[0028] An application of an artificial feeding attractant in whelk harvesting involves dissolving L-glutamic acid in seawater to prepare a stock solution with a concentration of 0.1 mol / L.

[0029] <Example 2>

[0030] An application of an artificial feeding attractant in whelk harvesting involves dissolving taurine in seawater to prepare a stock solution with a concentration of 0.1 mol / L.

[0031] <Example 3>

[0032] An application of an artificial feeding attractant in whelk harvesting involves dissolving inositol in seawater to prepare a stock solution with a concentration of 0.1 mol / L.

[0033] <Example 4>

[0034] An application of an artificial feeding attractant in whelk harvesting involves dissolving lactic acid in seawater to prepare a mother liquor with a concentration of 0.1 mol / L.

[0035] <Example 5>

[0036] An application of an artificial feeding attractant in whelk harvesting involves preparing a stock solution by dissolving L-glutamic acid, taurine, lactic acid, and inositol in seawater, with each component having a concentration of 0.1 mol / L.

[0037] <Comparative Example 1>

[0038] The difference from Example 2 is that taurine was dissolved in seawater to prepare a stock solution with a concentration of 1 mol / L.

[0039] <Comparative Example 2>

[0040] The difference from Example 2 is that taurine was dissolved in seawater to prepare a mother liquor with a concentration of 0.01 mol / L.

[0041] <Comparative Example 3>

[0042] The difference from Example 2 is that taurine was dissolved in seawater to prepare a mother liquor with a concentration of 0.001 mol / L.

[0043] <Effect Detection>

[0044] (1) The appetite-inducing effect of shark meat on whelks

[0045] Twenty adult whelks of similar size were selected and starved for 96 hours before the experiment. They were randomly divided into two groups of 10 whelks each, with each group's experiment repeated three times. The experiment included one treatment group and one control group. The treatment group received 5g of fresh shark meat directly as a feeding attractant in the cultured seawater, while the control group received no feeding attractant. The experimental setup consisted of two 1m×30cm×30cm tanks, one for the treatment group and one for the control group, equipped with a dual-pump system to maintain a circulation flow rate of 1L / min to simulate a natural ocean current environment. The water temperature was 12±2℃, salinity 25-35‰, pH 7.0-8.5, and the whelk stocking density was 10 whelks / tank. Feeding was prohibited during the experiment. A video monitoring system was used to simultaneously record the behavioral responses and distribution patterns of the whelks in both tanks, while observations and filming were conducted on both the treatment and control groups to evaluate the feeding attraction effect of shark meat. Behavioral analysis was used to measure parameters such as the time, distance traveled, and speed of whelks, and these parameters were compared with a control group during the same period to quantitatively evaluate the predation effect of shark meat. The results are as follows: Figure 1 As shown.

[0046] from Figure 1It can be seen that shark meat has a significant appetite-stimulating effect. Compared with the control group without any attractants, the treatment group with added shark meat showed significant differences in three key indicators: reaction time was significantly shortened from about 6 minutes to about 2 minutes, displacement distance was significantly increased from about 20 cm to about 70 cm, and movement speed was significantly increased from about 1 cm / min to about 3.5 cm / min. The experimental data show that shark meat can quickly induce a feeding response in snails, effectively attracting them to actively approach and enhancing their foraging activity, thus verifying the excellent effect of shark meat as a appetite stimulant.

[0047] (2) The feeding attraction effect of a single active ingredient on whelks

[0048] Twenty-five adult whelks of similar size were selected and starved for 96 hours before the experiment. They were randomly divided into five groups of five whelks each, with each group's experiment repeated three times. The experiment included four treatment groups and one control group. Each treatment group used the mother liquor prepared in Examples 1-4 as a feeding attractant, releasing a single active ingredient into the culture seawater at a flow rate of 1 mL / min via a release device. The control group received an equal volume of seawater. The experimental setup consisted of five 1m×30cm×30cm tanks, used for the treatment and control groups respectively, equipped with a dual-pump system to maintain a circulation flow rate of 1 L / min to simulate a natural ocean current environment. The water temperature was 12±2℃, salinity 25-35‰, pH 7.0-8.5, and the stocking density was five whelks per tank. Feeding was prohibited during the experiment, and the experiment was conducted entirely in the dark. The behavioral responses and distribution patterns of whelks in each tank were recorded using a video monitoring system. A paired design was employed, with one treatment group and one control group observed simultaneously in each batch. The feeding induction effects of four feeding attractants were evaluated in batches. Behavioral analysis was used to measure parameters such as the whelk's response time, movement distance, and movement speed, which were compared with the control group during the same period to quantitatively evaluate the feeding induction effects of the four single active ingredients. The results are as follows: Figure 2-5 As shown.

[0049] from Figure 2 As can be seen, compared with the control group without any added food attractant, Example 1, using L-glutamic acid as a food attractant, showed significant improvement in three key indicators: the reaction time was significantly shortened from about 10 min to about 6 min, the displacement distance was significantly increased from about 12 cm to about 35 cm, and the movement speed was significantly increased from about 0.4 cm / min to about 1.1 cm / min.

[0050] from Figure 3As can be seen, compared with the control group without any added food attractant, Example 2, using taurine as a food attractant, showed a significant improvement in three key indicators: the reaction time was significantly shortened from about 14 min to about 7 min, the displacement distance was significantly increased from about 15 cm to about 65 cm, and the movement speed was significantly increased from about 0.7 cm / min to about 2.3 cm / min.

[0051] from Figure 4 As can be seen, compared with the control group without any added food-attracting substances, Example 3, using inositol as a food-attracting agent, showed significant improvement in three key indicators: the reaction time was significantly shortened from about 14 min to about 9 min, the displacement distance was significantly increased from about 13 cm to about 17 cm, and the movement speed was significantly increased from about 0.4 cm / min to about 0.6 cm / min.

[0052] from Figure 5 As can be seen, compared with the control group without any added food-attracting substances, Example 4, which used lactic acid as a food-attracting agent, only showed a slight improvement in the reaction time index, with the reaction time significantly shortened from about 13 minutes to about 9 minutes, while the displacement distance and movement speed did not change significantly with the control group.

[0053] (3) The feeding attraction effect of compound active ingredients on whelks

[0054] Twenty adult whelks of similar size were selected and starved for 96 hours before the experiment. They were randomly divided into two groups of 10 whelks each, with each group's experiment repeated three times. The experiment included one treatment group and one control group. The treatment group used the mother liquor prepared in Example 5 as a feeding attractant, which was released into the culture seawater at a flow rate of 1 mL / min via a release device. The control group received an equal volume of seawater. The experimental setup consisted of two 1m×30cm×30cm tanks, one for the treatment group and one for the control group, equipped with a dual-pump system to maintain a circulation flow rate of 1 L / min to simulate a natural ocean current environment. The water temperature was 12±2℃, the salinity was 25-35‰, the pH was 7.0-8.5, and the stocking density was 10 whelks per tank. Feeding was prohibited during the experiment, and the experiment was conducted entirely in the dark. The behavioral responses and distribution patterns of whelks in each tank were recorded using a video monitoring system. A paired design was employed, with one treatment group and one control group observed simultaneously in each batch. The feeding attraction effect of the compound active ingredient was evaluated in batches. Behavioral analysis was used to measure parameters such as the whelk's response time, movement distance, and movement speed, which were compared with the control group during the same period to quantitatively assess the feeding attraction effect of the compound active ingredient. The results are as follows: Figure 6 As shown.

[0055] from Figure 6As can be seen, compared with the control group without any added food-attracting substances, Example 5 used a mixture of four active ingredients—L-glutamic acid, taurine, lactic acid, and inositol—as a food attractant, which fully exerted a synergistic effect and showed excellent food-attracting performance in three key indicators: the reaction time was significantly shortened from about 11 min to about 3 min, the displacement distance was significantly increased from about 18 cm to about 78 cm, and the movement speed was significantly increased from about 0.6 cm / min to about 3.1 cm / min.

[0056] To more intuitively compare the improvement effects of different palatability enhancers on three key indicators, the applicant recorded the indicator change rate in Table 1. The indicator change rate = indicator result after using palatability enhancer / indicator result of control group × 100%.

[0057] Table 1

[0058] Table 1 shows that L-glutamic acid, taurine, inositol, and lactic acid, when used individually, all have a feeding-attracting effect on whelks, and the feeding-attracting effect of these four active ingredients follows the order of taurine > glutamic acid > inositol > lactic acid. Furthermore, the experimental data indicates that when these four active ingredients are used together, their feeding-attracting effect is not only significantly better than the individual effects of each active ingredient, but also surpasses the feeding-attracting effect of traditional shark meat in all three key indicators. This is mainly because when these four active ingredients are used together, they can fully exert their synergistic effect, effectively enhancing the feeding response intensity and activity of whelks, demonstrating excellent feeding-attracting performance.

[0059] (4) The effect of key active ingredient concentration on the feeding attraction of whelks (taking taurine as an example)

[0060] Twenty adult whelks of similar size were selected and starved for 96 hours before the experiment. They were randomly divided into four groups of five whelks each, with each group's experiment repeated three times. The experiment consisted of four treatment groups, each using the mother liquor prepared in Example 2 and Comparative Examples 1-3 as the attractant. The attractant was released into the culture seawater at a flow rate of 1 mL / min using a release device. The experimental setup consisted of four 1m×30cm×30cm tanks, one for each treatment group, equipped with a dual-pump system to maintain a circulation flow rate of 1 L / min to simulate a natural ocean current environment. The water temperature was 12±2℃, salinity 25-35‰, pH 7.0-8.5, and the whelk stocking density was 5 whelks per tank. Feeding was prohibited during the experiment, and the entire experiment was conducted under dark conditions. A video monitoring system was used to simultaneously record the behavioral responses and distribution patterns of the whelks in each tank, and the feeding effects of different concentrations of attractant were evaluated. Behavioral analysis was used to determine parameters such as the time, distance traveled, and speed of whelk movement, and the feeding attraction effects of different concentrations of attractants were quantitatively evaluated. The results are as follows: Figure 7 As shown.

[0061] from Figure 7 It can be seen that 10 -1 The M concentration treatment group (i.e., Example 2) exhibited the best feeding stimulant activity, with a reaction time of approximately 400 s, a maximum displacement distance of approximately 70 cm, and a fastest movement speed of approximately 2.4 cm / min. The feeding stimulant effect of the highest 1M concentration group (i.e., Comparative Example 1) was slightly reduced, with a reaction time of approximately 400 s, a maximum displacement distance of approximately 60 cm, and a fastest movement speed of approximately 2.2 cm / min. Medium and low concentration groups (10...) -2 The feeding stimulant effect of M (i.e., Comparative Example 2) was significantly weakened, with a reaction time of approximately 750 seconds, a maximum displacement distance of approximately 25 cm, and a maximum movement speed of approximately 0.6 cm / min. The lowest concentration group (10...) -3 M (i.e., Comparative Example 3) showed the worst feeding induction effect, with a reaction time of approximately 800 s, a displacement distance of only about 20 cm, and a movement speed reduced to approximately 0.4 cm / min. Statistical analysis showed that there were highly significant differences among the concentration groups in terms of reaction time, displacement distance, and movement speed (P < 0.01 or P < 0.0001). The best feeding induction effect was achieved at a concentration of 0.1 mol / L, while excessively low or high concentrations would affect the feeding induction effect.

[0062] The embodiments described in this specific implementation are preferred embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, all equivalent changes made in accordance with the structure, shape and principle of this application should be covered within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. The application of an artificial feeding attractant in the harvesting of whelks, characterized in that, The artificial attractant is composed of taurine, glutamic acid, creatine and lactic acid. When the artificial attractant is used, the concentration of glutamic acid, taurine, inositol and lactic acid is 0.1 mol / L. Its attractant effect is comparable to that of traditional shark meat.

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