Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8PP, Wales, UK.
J Invertebr Pathol. 2013 Sep;114(1):92-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jip.2013.06.003. Epub 2013 Jun 22.
This study aimed to examine the pathobiology of a haplosporidian-like infection in juvenile (pre-recruit) edible crabs (Cancer pagurus) from two locations in South West Wales, UK. Infected crabs showed no external symptoms of the disease but dissection revealed an infected and hypertrophic antennal gland. Histological examination showed extensive parasitisation of the antennal gland overlying the hepatopancreas. Heavily infected crabs also showed the presence of parasites with morphological similarities to Haplosporidia in the labyrinth of the antennal gland and in the gills. The spread of the infection from the antennal gland to the gills suggests that these parasites are released into the haemolymph. Attempts to characterise the haplosporidian-like organism using several primers previously shown to amplify members of the phylum Haplosporidia failed. The prevalence of infection in juvenile edible crabs varied throughout the sampling period of November 2011 to July 2012 with the lowest level of ca. 15% in November peaking at 70% in March. This parasite may represent a threat to the sustainability of edible crab fisheries in this region if the damage observed in the antennal gland and gills results in host mortality. The identification of these parasites as members of the phylum Haplosporidia based on morphology alone must be seen as tentative in the absence of sequence data.
本研究旨在探讨英国威尔士西南部两个地点的幼年（未成熟）食用蟹（Cancer pagurus）中类似血孢子虫的感染的病理生物学。患病蟹没有疾病的外部症状，但解剖显示感染和肥大的触角腺。组织学检查显示触角腺广泛寄生在肝胰腺上。受严重感染的螃蟹的触角腺和鳃中也存在与血孢子虫形态相似的寄生虫。感染从触角腺传播到鳃表明这些寄生虫被释放到血淋巴中。使用以前显示可扩增门 Haplosporidia 成员的几种引物来描述类似血孢子虫的生物体的尝试均未成功。2011 年 11 月至 2012 年 7 月的采样期间，幼年食用蟹的感染率有所不同，11 月的最低水平约为 15%，3 月达到 70%的峰值。如果触角腺和鳃中观察到的损伤导致宿主死亡，这种寄生虫可能对该地区食用蟹渔业的可持续性构成威胁。仅基于形态将这些寄生虫鉴定为门 Haplosporidia 的成员，在没有序列数据的情况下必须视为暂定的。
