Document Type

Article

Department/Program

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Publication Date

3-2003

Journal

Bulletin of Marine Science

Volume

72

Issue

2

First Page

505

Last Page

517

Abstract

The diseases of blue crabs have received relatively little attention compared to those of the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica, or the penaeid shrimps, Penaeus spp. This is primarily due to differences in resource management (fishery vs. aquaculture), and the magnitude of financial losses suffered by the industries from protozoal diseases in oysters and viral diseases in shrimp, respectively. Nonetheless, several agents including Vibrio spp., Hematodinium perezi, Paramoeba perniciosa, Ameson michaelis and Loxothylacus texanus are highly pathogenic in blue crabs, and have the capacity to severely damage certain segments of the crab population. This paper is meant to highlight priorities for critically needed research on the ecological impacts and pathological processes of these diseases in the crab host. It is not meant as a review of the literature. For more complete reviews of the parasites and diseases of blue crabs, see Johnson (1983), Couch (1983), Overstreet (1983), Messick and Sinderman (1992), Noga et al. (1998), Shields and Overstreet (in press).

Keywords

Dinoflagellate Hematodinium-perezi; Red King Crab; Parasitic Dinoflagellate; Shell Disease

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