Pathogens in two commercially-important bivalve species from the Pacoti River estuary, Ceará State, Brazil

Authors

  • Lidiane de Souza Romão Mestrado do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Marinhas Tropicais, Labomar – UFC e bolsista da CAPES – Demanda Social.
  • Juliana Pinho Ferreira Mestrado do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Marinhas Tropicais, Labomar – UFC e bolsista do CNPq/PPG-CMT.
  • Rodrigo Maggioni Instituto de Ciências do Mar, Universidade Federal do Ceará.
  • Rayza Lima Araújo Mestrado do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Pesca, Universidade Federal do Ceará e bolsista do CNPq/Engenharia de Pesca.
  • Tereza Cristina Vasconcelos Gesteira Professor Aposentado da Universidade Federal do Ceará.
  • Patrícia Mirella da Silva Universidade Federal da Paraíba
  • Rachel Costa Sabry Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32360/acmar.v47i2.5934

Keywords:

Anamalocardia brasiliana, Crassostrea rhizophorae, prevalence, histopathology, metazoan, parasite, protozoa.

Abstract

In Ceará State’s estuaries, the mangrove oyster,  Crassostrea rhizophorae and the cockle  Anomalocardia brasiliana are  harvested by local communities, representing a very important socioeconomic activity. Whereas the pathogens can cause mortality in  mollusk populations, this study aimed to investigate the occurrence of parasites in  C. rhizophorae and in  A. brasiliana from Pacoti River  estuary, Ceará State. During the period from February, 2008 to January, 2009, samples of cockles and oysters (n = 360 per species) were  collected monthly for histopathological analyses. The results in cockles showed bacterial colonies rickettsia-type (7.2%), metazoan possibly  bucephalids (35.8%),  Tylocephalum (31.7%) and metacercariae of trematodes (0.5%). In oysters, it was observed protozoa of the genera  Nematopsis (83%), unidentified protozoans (3.9%),  Ancistrocoma (7.2%) and the metazoa : Urastoma  (0.8%), bucephalids (0.2%)  and  Tylocephalum (3%). Despite the high prevalence of  Nematopsis  in oysters, damage was not observed in the tissues of infected  animals. In contrast, the infestation by bucephalids in the gonads caused the castration of the host. The results indicate that those mollusk  species must be monitored in their habitat so as to keep pace with the evolution of the prevalence and the appearance of new pathogens.

Published

2014-12-31

Issue

Section

Artigos originais