title: Parasites infecting the cultured oyster Crassostrea gasar (Adanson, 1757) in Northeast Brazil.
abstract: The oyster Crassostrea gasar is a species widely used as food and a source of income for the local population of the estuaries of Northeast Brazil. Perkinsus marinus and Perkinsus olseni are deleterious parasites for oyster farming and were recently detected in Brazil. In this study, a histopathologic survey of the oyster C. gasar cultured in the estuary of the River Mamanguape (Paraíba State) was performed. Adult oysters were collected in December 2011 and March, May, August and October 2012 and processed for histology and Perkinsus sp. identification by molecular analyses. Histopathological analysis revealed the presence of parasitic organisms including viral gametocytic hypertrophy, prokaryote-like colonies, protozoans (Perkinsus sp. and Nematopsis sp.) and metazoans (Tylocephalum sp. and cestodes). Other commensal organisms were also detected (the protozoan Ancistrocoma sp. and the turbellarian Urastoma sp.). The protozoan parasite Perkinsus sp. had the highest overall prevalence among the symbiotic organisms studied (48.9%), followed by Nematopsis sp. (36.3%). The other organisms were only sporadically observed. Only the protozoan Perkinsus sp. caused alterations in the oysters' infected organs. Molecular analyses confirmed the presence of P. marinus, P. olseni and Perkinsus beihaiensis infecting the oyster C. gasar. This is the first report of P. beihaiensis in this oyster species.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Molecular,Centro de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza,Universidade Federal da Paraíba - Campus I,58051-900,João Pessoa,PB,Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando Ramos
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Queiroga
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande,CEP 96203-900,Rio Grande,RS,Brazil.
authors.forename: Rogério Tubino
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Vianna
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Molecular,Centro de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza,Universidade Federal da Paraíba - Campus I,58051-900,João Pessoa,PB,Brazil.
authors.forename: Cairé Barreto
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Molecular,Centro de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza,Universidade Federal da Paraíba - Campus I,58051-900,João Pessoa,PB,Brazil.
authors.forename: Natanael Dantas
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Farias
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Molecular,Centro de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza,Universidade Federal da Paraíba - Campus I,58051-900,João Pessoa,PB,Brazil.
authors.forename: Patricia Mirella
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Da Silva
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D049896:Crassostrea / Q000469:parasitology*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D010271:Parasites / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length
chemical_list: D004247:DNA
keywords: rDNA