The potential impact of climate change on the infectious diseases of commercially important shellfish populations in the Irish Sea—a review

Abstract

The Irish Sea and surrounding regions are a rich source of shellfish production as a result of captive fishing and aquaculture. Key species produced include lobsters (Homarus gammarus), edible crabs (Cancer pagurus), langoustines (Nephrops norvegicus), flat oysters (Ostrea edulis), cockles (Cerestoderma edule) and blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). The role played by infectious disease in limiting the sustainability of the production of these species is largely neglected. This review summarizes our knowledge of the key diseases of commercially important crustaceans and bivalve molluscs and attempts to determine their role in limiting the population of animals available for food production both at present and in the future. It shows that the key diseases threatening the sustainability of shellfish production are bitter crab disease in langoustines and edible crabs, and a wide range of diseases caused by micro- and macro-parasites in some bivalve molluscs including oysters and cockles. Oceanographic models are also employed to predict how changes in climate over the next half century may affect these key diseases and their hosts as found in the Irish Sea. It is concluded that the paucity of information on the potential transfer of some disease agents in pelagic larval stages of hosts and vectors is a major hurdle in predicting how some changes in environmental conditions may influence the prevalence and severity of shellfish diseases in coming years.

A Minchinia mercenariae‐like parasite infects cockles Cerastoderma edule in Galicia (NW Spain)

“…The cockle C. edule fishery has traditionally been the most important shellfish species in terms of biomass in Galicia (NW Spain). Numerous pathological studies of this species have been carried out and almost 60 parasites and disease conditions have been described (Carballal, Iglesias, Santamarina, Ferro‐Soto, & Villalba, ; Elliot et al., ; Longshaw & Malham, ; Morgan, ; Rowley et al., ; Thieltges, Engelsma, Wendling, & Wegner, ). Three of these pathologies have been associated with episodes of cockle mortality in the Galician coast: disseminated neoplasia, marteiliosis caused by the protozoan parasite Marteilia cochillia Carrasco et al.…”

Vibriosis in Fish: A Review on Disease Development and Prevention

“…; Rowley et al. ; FAO ). Vibriosis was reported to cause extensive mortality in a wide range of bivalve mollusk larvae and some crustaceans in the Irish Sea and surrounding regions, although such climate‐related outbreaks have not yet been observed (Rowley et al.…”

“…Vibriosis was reported to cause extensive mortality in a wide range of bivalve mollusk larvae and some crustaceans in the Irish Sea and surrounding regions, although such climate‐related outbreaks have not yet been observed (Rowley et al. ). In Malaysia and its neighboring countries with a year‐round tropical climate of 28°C, vibriosis has been frequently recorded at many aquaculture farms.…”

Climate change and aquaculture: considering biological response and resources

“…As global aquaculture production expands, the effects of largescale disease outbreaks have become an increasing economic concern (World Bank 2013, Lafferty et al 2015). In contrast to the terrestrial realm, research on climate change effects on marine and freshwater diseases is still relatively limited (Karvonen et al 2010, Rowley et al 2014, and the scarcity of long-term datasets impedes good understanding of climate change influences on disease levels in situ (Karvonen et al 2010, Callaway et al 2012.…”