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	Home Upcoming Events Institutions & Organizations People Bays & Estuaries Reefs, Banks & Islands Environmental Issues General Facts about the Gulf Exploration History Other Online Resources Electronic Books Mexican Coral Reef Species Checklist InfoHub Site Search:		Parasites of the American Oyster Crassostrea virginica in the Gulf of Mexico Laboratorio de Parasitología CINVESTAV-IPN Unidad Mérida Crassostrea virginica from 8 localities along the Gulf of Mexico from Tamaulipas to Campeche, Mexico, were examined for protozoan and helminth parasites. Three samples per year (dry, rainy and north-windy season) in each locality were taken. Oysters were examined by compression between two glass slides and observing through a estereoscopic microscope. A fragment of gills and anus were cultured in thioglycolate medium for diagnosis of the protozoan Perkinsus marinus. Prevalence and abundance were calculated. 2 protozoans (P. marinus and Nematopsis sp.) and 3 platyhelminthes (Urastoma cyprinae, Proctoeces maculatus and Tylocephalum sp.), and additionaly 1 copepoda probably belonging to the genus Mytilicola were found. None of the parasite species was present in all localities. Nematopsis sp and P. marinus were present in 7 of the 8 localities studied with prevalence values between 70 and 100% and 23 and 100% respectively. Prevalence of all other species at each locality was very variable. Oysters from all localities harbored at least one parasite species, with the maximum number of species in a locality being 5. All these species are common parasites of oysters and other bivalves in the Atlantic coast from Canada to Mexico. Principal Investigator(s) or Program Chair: Aguirre-Macedo, Leopoldina Sponsor(s): Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT) CONAPESCA Institution(s): Departamento de Recursos del Mar Field of Focus: Distribution of Perkinsus marinus; Ecology; Population Biology Study Site:   Coastal lagoons in the states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche Award Amount:   460,000 pesos Award Period:   1998 - 2002 Publications and Related Information: Macedo, MLA, Román-Magaña, MK, Álvarez, RAS and Ricalde, JIG. 2004. Diagnóstico parasicológico en Crassostrea virginica del Golfo de México. Boletín de la Red del Programa Nacional de Sanidad Acuícola (PRONALSA), Año 7, Vol. IV, No. 28, Diciembre 2004. Gold-Bouchot, G, Zapata-Pérez, O, Ceja-Moreno, V, Rodríguez-Fuentes, G, Simá-Alvarez, R, Aguirre-Macedo, ML and Vidal- Martínez, VM. 2007. Biological effects of environmental pollutants in American oyster, Crassostrea virginica: A field study in Laguna de Terminos, Mexico. International Journal of Environment and Health 1: 71-83. Aguirre-Macedo, ML, Simá-Álvarez, RA, Román-Magaña, MK and Güemez-Ricalde, JI. 2007. Parasitic survey of the American oyster (Crassostrea virginica) in coastal lagoons of the Southern Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Aquatic Animal Health. 19: 270-279. Gullian-Klanian, M, Herrera-Silveira, JA, Rodríguez-Canul, R, Aguirre-Macedo, ML. 2008. Environmental and physiological factors associated with the prevalence of Perkinsus marinus in Crassostrea virginica from the southern Gulf of Mexico. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 79: 237-247. Gullian, M and Aguirre-Macedo, ML. 2009. Seasonal variation of physiological parameters in the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica from a tropical region of the Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Shellfish Research, 28, 439-446. E-mail:   leo@mda.cinvestav.mx Keywords:   Oyster, Perkinsus marinus, Urastoma cyprinae, Proctoeces maculatus, Tylocephalum, Parasite, Protozoa
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