Between February and June 2010, 113 fiddler crabs Uca spinicarpa were collected from the Chuburna lagoon system on the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, México. Of the 68 crabs gathered outside their burrows, 13 were infected with 25 cystacanths of Hexaglandula corynosoma (intensity of infection from 1 to 5) and the remaining 55 crabs were uninfected. The other 45 crabs were found inside their burrows and only one was found infected with 1 cystacanth of H. corynosoma. Serotonin (5-HT) levels were higher in the group of crabs infected with H. corynosoma in contrast to the group of uninfected crabs and the group of those infected with other parasites. A redundancy analysis corroborated a positive relationship between 5-HT and the intensity of infection with H. corynosoma. In contrast, dopamine levels remained similar among different groups of crabs.
KEY WORDS: Hexaglandula corynosoma · Uca spinicarpa · Serotonin · Dopamine · Behavioral changeResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher
Panulirus argus virus 1 (PaV1) is considered a major threat to spiny lobsters Panulirus argus. In this study Geospatial analysis was used to analyze PaV1 distribution in an artisanal fishery of spiny lobster Panulirus argus population from the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Adult and sub-adult P. argus and seabed coverage data were collected from thirty artisanal fishing sites. Five seabed coverage types were identified: seagrass; sand/seagrass mixture; sand only; coral/sand mixture; and seaweed. No juveniles were examined. Of the 358 collected lobsters, PaV1 was identified in four organisms (three sub-adults and one adult) from two fishing sites (termed A & B), both found in a seagrass coverage area. Overall prevalence was of 1.12%. Prevalence was of 20% (2/10) at one site and of 12.6% (2/16) at the other.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.