First evidence of Panulirus argus Virus 1 (PaV1) in spiny lobster from Cuba and clinical estimation of its prevalence

Abstract

The present study documents the first finding of Panulirus argus Virus 1 (PaV1) in spiny lobster Panulirus argus from Cuba. Samples originated from 2 nursery sites, Matías Keys and Bocas de Alonso Keys, and 2 fishing sites, La Grifa and El Ramajo. Lobsters from the nursery sites (artificial reefs) were collected by SCUBA diving, while those from the fishing sites were collected from artificial shelters known as 'casitas cubanas'. In these shelters it was observed that healthy lobsters tended to avoid infected lobsters. Prevalence of PaV1 in the sampling sites was assessed by using clinical signs such as lethargy, an opaque reddish shell coloration, and milky white hemolymph with loss of clotting activity. The presence of PaV1 was subsequently confirmed by histology and PCR of tissues and hemolymph samples from suspected individuals. Histological sections of the hepatopancreas, gills, gonads, and gut showed infected hemocytes with hypertrophied nuclei and eosinophilic intranuclear Cowdry type A inclusions. A 499 bp band was observed by PCR. The sequence of the amplified fragments was 96% similar to the PaV1 sequence in GenBank. The overall mean prevalence of PaV1 was 4.48% (range: 0 to 9.3%) after pooling the results of the 4 sampling sites.

Variability in clinical prevalence of PaV1 in Caribbean spiny lobsters occupying commercial casitas over a large bay in Mexico

“…For example, the average clinical prevalence in lobsters sampled from casitas in Bahía de la Ascensión (4.8%) was similar to the average clinical prevalence estimated in the Gulf of Batabanó, Cuba (4.7%), where casitas are also extensively used (Cruz-Quintana et al 2011), and in Florida Bay, USA (5%), where casitas are not used (Behringer et al 2011), and clinical prevalence of PaV1 is significantly higher in lobsters ≤ 50 mm CL in all these locations. However, the magnitude of prevalence of pathogenic infections may vary in space and time owing to the effects of many intrinsic (e.g.…”

“…habitat features, sea water temperature, salinity, rainfall) (Altizer et al 2006, Mullowney et al 2011. Thus, clinical prevalence of PaV1 ranged from 0 to > 40% in individual sites over Florida Bay sampled in different seasons (Behringer et al 2011) and was higher during the rainy season than during the dry season in Cuba, where it also varied between sampling zones (Cruz-Quintana et al 2011). In Bahía de la Ascensión, clinical prevalence of PaV1 varied with sampling season, but was consistently lower in Vigía Chico than in Punta Allen and Los Cayos.…”

“…Estimating the true prevalence of PaV1 requires the use of expensive and/or time-consuming techniques such as histopathological analyses (Shields & Behringer 2004), fluorescence in situ hybridization (Li et al 2006), or PCR assays (Montgomery-Fullerton et al 2007). These techniques have invariably confirmed the presence of PaV1 in wild Panulirus argus that have exhibited milky white hemolymph , Cruz-Quintana et al 2011, Pascual-Jiménez et al 2012, but have also revealed that many lobsters that appear grossly normal are subclinically infected (e.g. Behringer et al 2012, J. P. Huchin-Mian unpubl.…”

“…However, adult lobsters are the main target of the fisheries, but few studies have examined the clinical or true prevalence of PaV1 in wild adult lobsters (Behringer et al 2011, Cruz-Quintana et al 2011). In Bahía de la Ascensión, none of the 272 adults that we sampled from casitas was clinically infected.…”

Influence of local habitat features on disease avoidance by Caribbean spiny lobsters in a casita-enhanced bay

“…Prevalence of PaV1 tends to decrease with increasing size of lobsters (Shields & Behringer 2004, Behringer et al 2011, Cruz-Quintana et al 2011. The individuals most susceptible to PaV1 are the smaller juveniles, which are widely dispersed in the settlement habitat (marine vegetation) and are asocial.…”