Synopsis of Infectious Diseases and Parasites of Commercially Exploited Shellfish

Psorospermium spp. (Protozoan Disease) of Australian Crayfish

Category | Common Name | Scientific Name | Distribution | Host Species
Impact on Host | Diagnostic Technique | Methods of Control | References | Citation

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Category

Category 4 (Negligible Regulatory Significance in Canada)

Common, generally accepted names of the organism or disease agent

Pyramidellid snails.

Scientific name or taxonomic affiliation

Boonea spp. and Odostomia spp. of the gastropod family Pyramidellidae.

Geographic distribution

Ubiquitous but most ectoparasitic species have been reported from the North Atlantic Ocean.

Host species

Crassostrea virginica, Ostrea edulis and many species of mussel, clam, cockle and scallop.

Impact on the host

Pyramidellids normally occur close to the mantle edge on the shell of the host, where they penetrate the soft tissues using a stylet and proboscis and feed off the oyster tissue fluids. The oyster may form characteristic pockets in the shell margin in response to the presence of the snails indicating irritation to the oyster tissues. In the laboratory, Boonea impressa was capable of transmitting the oyster pathogen Perkinsus marinus between Crassostrea virginica (White et al. 1987).

Diagnostic techniques

Gross Observations: Small white snails less than 3 mm long attached to the mantle margins of oysters.

Methods of control

No known methods of prevention or control. Recommend avoidance of introduction of infected oysters into areas where these snails have not been previously recorded.

 

 

References

Lauckner, G. 1983. Diseases of Mollusca: Bivalvia. In: O. Kinne (ed.) Diseases of Marine Animals. Volume II: Introduction, Bivalvia to Scaphopoda. Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Hamburg, p. 797-800.

White, M.E., N.E. Powell, S.M. Ray and E.A. Wilson. 1987. Host-to-host transmission of Perkinsus marinus in oyster (Crassostrea virginica) populations by the ectoparasitic snail Boonea impressa (Pyramidellidae). Journal of Shellfish Research 6: 1-5.

Citation Information

Bower, S.M., McGladdery, S.E., Price, I.M. (1994): Synopsis of Infectious Diseases and Parasites of Commercially Exploited Shellfish: Pyramidellid Snails of Oysters.

URL: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/species-especes/shellfish-coquillages/diseases-maladies/pages/pyrasnoy-eng.htm

Date last revised:  Fall1994
Comments to Susan Bower