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A new shell disease in the mud crab Scylla serrata from Port Curtis, Queensland (Australia)

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journal contribution
posted on 2017-12-06, 00:00 authored by Leonie Andersen, J Norton, N Levy
In 1994 a previously unreported rust spot shell disease was seen in mud crabs Scylla serrata— Forskal from Port Curtis, central Queensland, Australia. Of 673 crabs surveyed, 21.7% had shell lesions. Of these, 82.9% had rust spot lesions on the carapace. The majority of rust spot-affected crabs (78.8%) were female. Rust spot lesions were predominantly non-perforated (89.4%) and 54.8% were bilaterally symmetrical. There was also a gender difference in the areas of the carapace most commonly affected. The main histological features of the rust spot lesion included: a cavity in the upper endocuticle; indentation of the endocuticle below the cavity; remains of muscle attachment adhesive epithelium within the cavity; fibrous connective tissue between the damaged carapace andthe attached muscle; and islands of endocuticle in this fibrous connective tissue. Histopathology of the internal organs failed to find evidence of an infectious or parasitic cause of the rust spot lesions. The cause(s) of the syndrome appear(s) to be non-infectious.

Funding

Category 1 - Australian Competitive Grants (this includes ARC, NHMRC)

History

Volume

43

Issue

3

Start Page

233

End Page

239

Number of Pages

7

eISSN

1616-1580

ISSN

0177-5103

Location

Germany

Publisher

Inter-Research

Language

en-aus

Peer Reviewed

  • Yes

Open Access

  • No

External Author Affiliations

Centre for Environmental Management; Oonoonba Veterinary Laboratory; TBA Research Institute;

Era Eligible

  • No

Journal

Diseases of aquatic organisms.