A parasitic scuticociliate infection in the Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus).
A histophagous ciliate infection was discovered in a number of Norway lobsters (Nephrops norvegicus) from the Clyde Sea Area, Scotland. Silver-carbonate staining of cultured ciliates revealed an oral apparatus and additional structural features that are morphologically similar to scuticociliates in the genus Mesanophrys, which are known to parasitize crustaceans. However, ribosomal DNA sequences (ITS1/5.8S/ITS2) of the ciliate were identical to Orchitophyra stellarum, a parasitic scuticociliate of sea stars with a different morphology from Mesanophrys spp. and to the ciliate from N. norvegicus. Associated pathology included degeneration and necrosis of the myocardial heart muscle, and large numbers of ciliates in the gill filaments.
Small
H J
HJ
Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK. hamish@vims.edu
Neil
D M
DM
Taylor
A C
AC
Bateman
K
K
Coombs
G H
GH
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000235:genetics; D016770:Ciliophora Infections / Q000473:pathology*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008121:Nephropidae / Q000469:parasitology*; D010273:Parasitic Diseases, Animal / Q000473:pathology*
D016054:DNA, Protozoan