Among the many Callinectes spp. across the western Atlantic, the blue crab C. sapidus has the broadest latitudinal distribution, encompassing both tropical and temperate climates. Its life history varies latitudinally, from extended overwintering at high latitudes to year-round activity in tropical locations. Callinectes sapidus reovirus 1 (CsRV1) is a pathogenic virus first described in North Atlantic C. sapidus and has recently been detected in southern Brazil. Little information exists about CsRV1 prevalence at intervening latitudes or in overwintering blue crabs. Using a quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) method, this study investigated CsRV1 prevalence in C. sapidus across latitudinal differences in temperature and crab life history, as well as in additional Callinectes spp. and within overwintering C. sapidus. CsRV1 prevalence in C. sapidus was significantly correlated with high water temperature and blue crab winter dormancy. Prevalence of CsRV1 in C. sapidus on the mid-Atlantic coast was significantly lower in winter than in summer. CsRV1 infections were not detected in other Callinectes spp. These findings revealed that CsRV1 is present in C. sapidus across their range, but not in other Callinectes species, with prevalence associated with temperature and host life history. Such information helps us to better understand the underlying mechanisms that drive marine virus dynamics under changing environmental conditions.
The Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804), is an important resource in the Western Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. A nemertean egg predator of P. argus, Carcinonemertes conanobrieniSimpson, Ambrosio & Baeza, 2017, was recorded in Florida in 2017 and Colombia in 2018. This study sought to investigate the presence of C. conanobrieni in P. argus in Saint Kitts and Nevis, eastern Caribbean Sea. Nemerteans were observed in the brood masses of P. argus. Molecular techniques confirmed its presence in the P. argus population on Saint Kitts. Egg, juvenile, and adult stages of C. conanobrieni and of an undescribed Carcinonemertes sp. were found in the brood masses of 27 of 31 (87%) ovigerous P. argus. Differences in the shape of the nemertean egg masses (string versus spherical arrangement) were confirmed as two distinct species of Carcinonemertes Coe, 1902 using molecular analyses. The juvenile stage of the undescribed Carcinonemertes sp. was detected in the gills of 72 of 320 (23%) of the P. argus individuals from Saint Kitts. The prevalence of branchial nemertean infestation was not significantly different among male and female P. argus. Female lobsters with ovaries in early stages of gonadal maturation were more likely to have branchial nemerteans relative to those with ovaries in late stages of maturation, suggestive of nemertean migration from gills to egg mass once the host oviposits. This is the first report of C. conanobrieni in the Caribbean spiny lobster from the eastern Caribbean, which is approximately 1,300 miles from Florida and 1,000 miles from Colombia. This is also the first report of an undescribed nemertean worm in P. argus. The high prevalence of Carcinonemertes spp. in P. argus raises concern for the extent to which these egg predators may be impacting P. argus in Saint Kitts, an important fishery on the island.
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