Parasites and Disease in Oysters and Mussels of U.S. Coastal Waters National Status and Trends, the Mussel Watch Monitoring Program NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment D. A. Apeti Y. Kim G.G. Lauenstein E.N. Powell J. Tull R. Warner December 2014 NOAA TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM NOS NCCOS 182 NOAA NCCOS Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment CITATION Apeti, D.A., Y. Kim, G.G. Lauenstein, E.N. Powell, J. Tull, and R. Warner. 2014. Parasites and Disease in Oysters and Mussels of the U.S. Coastal Waters. National Status and Trends, the Mussel Watch Monitoring Program. NOAA Tech­ nical Memorandum NOSS/NCCOS 182. Silver Spring, MD 51 pp. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to acknowledge Juan Ramirez of TDI-Brooks International Inc., and David Bushek and Emily Scarpa of Rutgers University Haskin Shellfish Laboratory for a decade of analytical effort in providing the Mussel Watch histopathology data. We also wish to thank Erik Davenport, who provided data analysis support, and most importatntly reviewers Gretchen Messick and Shawn McLaughlin of the NCCOS Cooperative Oxford Laboratory, as well as Kevin McMahon and Greg Piniak, for their invaluable assistance in making this document a better product than what we had initially envisioned. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for their use by the United States government. Parasites and Disease in Oysters and Mussels of U.S. Coastal Waters. National Status and Trends, the Mussel Watch Monitoring Program National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration (NOAA) National Ocean Service (NOS) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) Authors Dennis A. Apeti, Gunnar G. Lauenstein, and Rob Warner NOAA Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Coastal and Oceanographic Assessment, Status and Trends Branch Yungkul Kim School of Science, Engineering & Mathematics Bethune-Cookman University Eric N. Powell Gulf Coast Research Laboratory University of Southern Mississippi Jamila Tull School of the Environment Florida A&M University NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 182 December 2014 United States Department National Oceanic and Atmospheric National Ocean Service of Commerce Administration Penny Pritzker Kathryn Sullivan Holly Bamford Secretary Under Secretary Assistant Administrator NATIONAL STATUS AND TRENDS PROGRAM: The Mussel Watch Monitoring Program TABLE OF CONTENTS Acronyms .........................................................................................................................................ii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ iii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. iii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... vii Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Table of Contents Table Methods ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Monitoring Sites and Bivalve Species .................................................................................... 3 Sample Collection ..................................................................................................................... 4 Analytical Methods ................................................................................................................... 4 Data Analysis and Statistical Approach ................................................................................ 7 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 10 Parasites.................................................................................................................................... 10 Prokaryotic Inclusion Bodies ...................................................................................... 10 Gregarines ...................................................................................................................... 12 Haplosporidium nelsoni ..................................................................................................... 14 Perkinsus marinus ............................................................................................................. 16 Ciliates ............................................................................................................................. 18 Cestodes .......................................................................................................................... 20 Trematodes ..................................................................................................................... 22 Nematodes ..................................................................................................................... 24 Copepods........................................................................................................................ 26 Pinnotherid Crabs ......................................................................................................... 28 Disease.................................................................................................................. .................. .30 Tissue Hemocytic Infiltration ..................................................................................... 30 Ceroid Bodies ................................................................................................................ 32 Digestive Gland Atrophy ............................................................................................. 34 Tissue Necrosis ............................................................................................................. 36 Xenomas ........................................................................................................................ 38 Synthesis ....................................................................................................................................... 40 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 46 Literature Cited....................................... .................................................................................... 47 Appendix A............................................... .................................................................................... 51 Appendix B........................................... ........................................................................................ 52 i NATIONAL STATUS AND TRENDS PROGRAM: The Mussel Watch Monitoring Program ACRONYMS AND TECHNICAL TERMS Ag – silver American oyster– Crassostrea virginica also known as Eastern oyster As – arsenic Blue mussel – Mytilus edulis (East Coast), M. californianus, M. galloprovincialis (California coast), M. trossulus (Northern California to Alaska) CCMA – Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Cd – cadmium Cestode – a parasitic flatworm with a specialized organ for attachment Table of Contents Table COAST – Coastal Ocean Assessments, Status, and Trends Branch Cr – chromium Cu – copper DDT – dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane Dermo – a common name for an oyster disease caused by Perkinsus marinus, a parasitic pathogen that affects oysters Hawaiian oyster – Ostrea sandvicensis Hg – mercury Intensity - a measure of severity of infection or disease in infected or diseased organisms MHE stain - Meyer’s hematoxylin and eosine stain Mn – manganese MSX – multinucleated sphere X/unknown, an oyster disease caused by Haplosporidium nelsoni MWP – Mussel Watch program NCCOS – National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Necrosis – tissue death Nematode – a roundworm with an unsegmented body Ni – nickel NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOS – National Ocean Service NS&T – National Status and Trends PAH – polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Pb – lead PCB – polychlorinated biphenyls PIB – prokaryotic inclusion bodies Prevalence - the proportion of individuals in a sample population that are infected or diseased at a given time Se – selenium Sn – tin Xenoma – an enlarged lesion composed of hypertrophic host cells filled with ceratin parasites, such as ciliates; a cyst Zebra mussel – two species of invasive mussels found in the Great Lakes, Dreissena polymorpha (zebra mussel) and D. bugensis (quagga mussel) Zn – zinc ii NATIONAL STATUS AND TRENDS PROGRAM: The Mussel Watch Monitoring Program LIST OF TABLES Table 1. List of organic pollutants and metals analyzed by the NS&T Program. Table 2a. List of parasites measured by MWP in sentinel bivalves. Table 2b. List of disease and host responses measured by the MWP in sentinel bivalves. Table 3a. Semi-quantitative scale for Haplosporidium nelsoni (MSX) infection modified from Ford and Figueras (1988). Table 3b. Semi-quantitative scale for Perkinisus marinus [adapted from Mackin (1962) by Craig et al. (1989)]. Table 3c. Semi-quantitative scale for trematode sporocyst. Table of Contents Table Table 3d. Semi-quantitative scale for digestive gland atrophy. Table 4. Average