Smolowitz R M, Bullis R A, Abt D A
Biol Bull. 1992 Aug;183(1):99-112. doi: 10.2307/1542411.
Cuticular lesions from twenty-four market sized lobsters (Homarus americanus) with winter impoundment shell disease were examined. Histological descriptions of cuticular lesions were correlated with the substage of molt for each lobster, because cuticle components and inflammatory mechanisms vary in each. A lesion severity grading system was developed and applied to four specific substages of the five-stage (A-E) molting cycle. Lesions present in substage C4, in which the membranous layer is deposited, and D0 (passive premolt) were divided into five grades, ranging from mild erosions (Grade I) to severe ulceration (Grade V) of the cuticle. Cuticular lesions from lobsters in C4/D0 were compared with cuticular lesions from lobsters in substages C2/C3. Defensive mechanisms exhibited by animals in all substages were epicuticle deposition, melanization, inflammatory cell infiltration, and pseudomembrane formation. In addition, animals in C4 and D0 showed proliferation of the membranous layer in affected foci. The lesion grading scheme presented in this paper can be used to describe and compare both inter- and intraspecies crustacean shell lesions.
对24只患有冬季围隔壳病的市场规格美洲龙虾（Homarus americanus）的表皮病变进行了检查。表皮病变的组织学描述与每只龙虾的蜕皮亚阶段相关，因为每个阶段的表皮成分和炎症机制各不相同。开发了一种病变严重程度分级系统，并将其应用于五阶段（A - E）蜕皮周期的四个特定亚阶段。在沉积膜层的C4亚阶段和D0（被动蜕皮前期）出现的病变分为五个等级，从轻度侵蚀（I级）到表皮严重溃疡（V级）。将C4/D0阶段龙虾的表皮病变与C2/C3亚阶段龙虾的表皮病变进行了比较。所有亚阶段动物表现出的防御机制包括表皮沉积、黑化、炎症细胞浸润和假膜形成。此外，C4和D0阶段的动物在受影响部位出现膜层增殖。本文提出的病变分级方案可用于描述和比较种间和种内甲壳类动物的壳病变。
