Virginia Institute of Marine Science, P.O. Box 1346, 1375 Greate Road, Gloucester Point, VA 23062-1346, USA.
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, P.O. Box 1346, 1375 Greate Road, Gloucester Point, VA 23062-1346, USA.
J Invertebr Pathol. 2023 Jun;198:107918. doi: 10.1016/j.jip.2023.107918. Epub 2023 Apr 3.
Hematodinium perezi is a dinoflagellate endoparasitic in marine crustaceans, primarily decapods. It occurs in juvenile blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus, at high prevalence levels and has severe pathogenic effects in this host. The life history outside the host has not been experimentally investigated and, until now, transmission using dinospores has not been successful. We investigated the natural transmission dynamics of H. perezi in the laboratory using small juvenile crabs, which are highly susceptible to infection in the field, and elevated temperatures, which are known to stimulate dinospore production. Natural water-borne transmission to naïve crabs varied between 7 and 100% and was not correlated with dinospore densities measured from their aquaria water. Infections appeared to develop quickly in naïve hosts at 25 °C, suggesting that elevated temperatures as seen in the late summer and early autumn have a strong influence on the transmission of H. perezi in natural systems.
血红哈氏虫是一种寄生在海洋甲壳类动物（主要是十足目）体内的双鞭毛原生动物。它在幼年的蓝蟹 Callinectes sapidus 中流行，对宿主有严重的致病性。在宿主之外的生活史尚未经过实验研究，到目前为止，使用游孢子进行传播尚未成功。我们使用易受感染的小型幼年蟹和已知能刺激游孢子产生的高温，在实验室中研究了血红哈氏虫的自然传播动态。自然水源传播到天真的螃蟹的比例在 7%到 100%之间，与从它们的水族馆水中测量的游孢子密度无关。在 25°C 时，天真的宿主中的感染似乎迅速发展，这表明夏末和初秋出现的高温对自然系统中血红哈氏虫的传播有很强的影响。
