Diseases of American lobsters (Homarus americanus): A review

Disease will limit future food supply from the global crustacean fishery and aquaculture sectors

“…(e.g. Cawthorn, 2011). Clearly such broad statements are somewhat subject of the number of published research papers associated with disease agents in specific host taxa (often governed by their availability, ease of working with, and the financial cost of purchasing live samples), but broad experience on working with a range of decapod hosts in our laboratories seems to reflect this differential pathogen burden.…”

“…In other scenarios, live animals are shipped to distant markets via road and air following prolonged holding in the post-capture phase. In such instances, animals are often retained until market conditions are favourable (in some cases >6 months after initial capture), a particular strategy adopted by the globalised American and Canadian lobster industries, now worth over $1bn, with annual landings approaching 100,000 tonnes (see Cawthorn, 2011;Fotedar and Evans, 2011). The live market chain is however fraught with potential stressors (poor initial selection of animals, air exposure, hypoxia, handling and physico-chemical disturbances), all of which may impact upon delivery of high quality animals to market.…”

“…Gaffkemia (caused by the bacteria Aerococcus viridans) and so-called 'Bumper Car Disease' (caused by the ciliate Anophryoides haemophila) occur during the post-capture storage of H. americanus and are at least partly responsible for the 10-15% losses occurring annually in this industry (Lavallée et al, 2001;Cawthorn, 2011). Other infectious agents causing problems in the post-capture phase include Hematodinium sp.…”

Ensuring crustacean product quality in the post-harvest phase

“…Moreover some diseases may manifest under conditions of stress, e.g. Gaffkemia in impounded lobsters, especially at higher water temperatures, or during live transport (Cawthorn, 2011). Communal holding in either of these situations may also promote disease spread.…”

“…Crustaceans suffer a range of infections from numerous agents, both viral and bacterial, and although the epidemiology of these, and their effects on mortality, are in many cases well established (see recent reviews by Cawthorn, 2011;Lightner, 2011;Morado, 2011 andShields, 2011), less is known about their effects on prod- uct quality. The many studies of infections by the dinoflagellate parasite Hematodinium in commercially-important crustacean species, however, are beginning to provide that necessary information, and a summary of the key findings is given here.…”