Changes In Shell Disease Symptoms
In American Lobster, Homarus americanus, Off Massachusetts…Is This The
True Millenium Bug? Bruce T. Estrella Coastal Lobster Investigations Project, Massachusetts
Division of Marine Fisheries, 50 A Portside Drive, Pocasset, MA 02559 The etiology of shell disease on crustaceans and in particular American
lobster, Homarus americanus, in Massachusetts’s coastal waters will be
discussed. A description will be
presented of how the severity of symptoms has changed and escalated in recent
years in the southern New England inshore area. A previously established lobster size-symptom prevalence
relationship is no longer evident.
Juvenile lobsters have been uncharacteristically observed with extreme
symptoms. Questions are raised
regarding a possible shift in the diversity/and or abundance of chitinoclastic
microorganisms and whether environmental influences have played a role. The consequences to this commercially
important resource and fishery and what this means for future research
opportunities are discussed. |