Effect of culture system on the prevalence of parasites of the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamark, 1819)

Abstract

For the production of the Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, two systems are used in Greece, the ‘long-line’ and the ‘on-table’ system. In the present study, effects of farming system on prevalence of infection by some parasites of Mediterranean mussels were investigated. Three mussel culture sites, located at Thermaikos gulf, with similar profiles, where both farming systems are practiced, were selected. Two samplings took place in 2008, one in July and one in October. From each site, 30 mussels per culture system were collected. From each mussel, tissue samples from the visceral mass, mantle and gills were collected and examined histologically for the presence of any parasites. Number of mussels parasitized by at least one parasitic species was substantially increased in mussels cultured with the ‘on-table’ system. In particular, prevalence of infection by Urastoma cyprinae and Marteilia spp. was substantially increased in mussels cultured with the ‘on-table’ system, while no relation between farming system and prevalence of infection by Eugymnanthea inquilina was observed. Prevalence of infection by Myticola intestinalis, Steinhausia mytilovum and Proctoeces maculatus was considerably low in both culture systems. In addition, in both culture systems, number of the mussels infected by E. inquilina and U. cyprinae was substantially increased in October, while an opposite trend was noted for Marteilia spp.

Guests or pests? Eirenid hydroids living on the soft tissue of bivalves

“…48,49,64,65 It has been assumed that polyps may detach for a short time and reattach in new places within the same mollusc, probably to prevent crowding, 38 or leave the bivalve through the exhalant current 62 and settle again in the nearby molluscs contributing to the species dispersal. 66 Polyps (1 to 29 per day) detaching from the mussel host 65 as well as polyps swimming freely inside the shell were reported 67 ; however, there is no evidence that dislodged polyps can secure a new foothold. 38 Planulae preferentially settle on large molluscs (40 mm in length), likely because larger bivalves inhale more efficiently creating a higher flow rate for the planulae.…”

MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF PARASITES ISOLATED FROM MEDITERRANEAN MUSSEL (Mytilus Galloprovincialis Lamarck 1819) SPECIMENS

“…The trematode parasite Parvatrema duboisi was also reported from the gill filaments of the Mediterranean mussel in Black Sea, Sinop, Turkey [5]. Karagiannis et al [4] conducted a study in order to understand the presence of some parasitic disease and mortality problems in aquaculture system. These researchers have reported that turbelarian Urastoma cyprinae and paramyxean parasite Marteilia sp.…”