Abstract:
We evaluated marine aggregates as environmental reservoirs for a thraustochytrid pathogen, Quahog Parasite
Unknown (QPX), of the northern quahog or hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria. Positive results from in situ
hybridization and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis confirm the presence of QPX in marine aggregates collected
from coastal embayments in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where QPX outbreaks have occurred. In laboratory
experiments, aggregates were observed and recorded by entering a quahog’s pallial cavity, thereby delivering embedded
particles from the water column to its benthic bivalve host. The occurrence of pathogen-laden aggregates
in coastal areas experiencing repeated disease outbreaks suggests a means for the spread and survival of pathogens
between epidemics and provides a specific target for environmental monitoring of those pathogens.
Description:
Author Posting. © The Authors, 2005. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of American Society of Limnology and Oceanography for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Limnology and Oceanography 50 (2005): 1983-1988, doi:10.4319/lo.2005.50.6.1983.
