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INFECTION INTENSITY OF PERKINSUS MARINUS DISEASE IN CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA (GMELIN, 1791) FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO MAINTAINED UNDER DIFFERENT LABORATORY CONDITIONS
Citation:
Fisher, W., J. Gauthier, AND J. Winstead. INFECTION INTENSITY OF PERKINSUS MARINUS DISEASE IN CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA (GMELIN, 1791) FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO MAINTAINED UNDER DIFFERENT LABORATORY CONDITIONS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-93/057.
Description:
A protozoan parasite, Perkinsus marinus, has been responsible for infection and mortality of eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica, since before 1950. tudies on the course of infection intensity (incidence) in individual animals have been restricted by the need to sacrifice animals for diagnosis, so quantitative association of disease intensity with environmental conditions and individual survival has not been accomplished. ecently developed hemolymph assay provided the means to quantitate infection intensity from live oysters. pplication of this technique demonstrated progression of P. marinus intensity in Gulf of Mexico oysters maintained in laboratory aquaria in fed and unfed conditions at different test temperatures (18-27 degrees C) and salinities (6-36 ppt). n one experiment, incidences over eight weekly samplings were 10 0.09 hypnospores mL-1 hemolymph week-1, for low temperature allow salinity conditions and 10 0,36 hypnospores mL-1 hemolymph week-1 for high temperature/high salinity conditions. emperature was more influential than salinity in P. marinus incidence and oyster mortalities.