Since 1992, seed production of mangrove crab, Scylla serrate, has been attempted at the Gondol Research Station for Coastal Fisheries, Bali, Indonesia. During the production process, almost all of the larvae have died due to fungal infection. Fungi isolated from the larvae with fungal infection were classified into three species in the order Lagenidiales:Lagenidium callinectes, Haliphthoros milfordensis and Halocrusticida baliensis sp. nov. based on detailed morphological characteristics. The effects of temperature, pH and mineral content of the water on their growth were also examined. Seed production of the mangrove crab, Scylla serrate Forsskal, is an important industry in Indonesia. A serious problem facing this industry is fungal diseases, due to fungi belonging to the order Lagenidiales, which cause high mortality in the eggs and zoeal larvae. Fungal diseases in crabs caused by the fungi of the order Lagenidiales have been previously reported. In the genus Lagenidium, L. callinectes Couch has been reported from blue crab, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun (Couch, 1942; Bahnweg and Gotelli, 1980), and swimming crab, Portunus pelagicus (Nakamura and Hatai, 1995a). L. scyllae Bian et el. (Bian et. el., 1979) and L. thermophilure Nakamura et el. (Nakamura et el., 1995) have been isolated from mangrove crab, Scylla serrate. In the genus Haliphthoros, Hall milfordensis has been reported from swimming crab, Portunus pelagicus (Nakamura and Hatai, 1995a Halocrusticida hamanaensis and Halo. okinawaensis were formerly identified as fungi in the genus Atkinsiella. Atkinsiella dubia was also reported from the mantle of abalone, Haliotis sieboldii Reeve (Nakamura and Hatai, 1995a).In 1997, fungal diseases occurred in the eggs and zoeae of the mangrove crab S. serrate at the Gondol Research Station. The mortality rate reached almost lO0~ in the larvae. The infected larvae were whitish in color and filled with numerous aseptate hyphae. In this paper, the morphological and physiological characteristics of three strains of fungi isolated from the larvae of the mangrove crab with fungal infections were studied.
Material and Methods
Isolation and identification Zoeae of the mangrove crab,Scylla serrate Forsskal, which were produced at the hatchery of the Gondol Research Station for Coastal Fisheries, Bali, Indonesia, were reared at 25-27~ in a tank and fed with rotifers, Branchionus plicatilis MLiller, and brine shrimp, Artemia saline Linnaeus. The infection occurred in the zoeae in July 1997. Zoeae from the tank were observed under the microscope.If fungal elements were present, we attempted to isolate them using PYGS (1.25 g of Bacto peptone, 1.25 g of Bacto yeast extract, 3 g of glucose, and 12 g of Bacto agar and 1,000 rn/of seawater) containing streptomycin sulphate and ampicillin, each at a concentration of 500 f~g/ml, to retard bacterial growth. The agar plates were incubated at 25~ for 5-7 d. After fungal colonies developed on the agar plates, each one was transferred onto fresh PYGS agar to make a pure culture. The f...