SICK!!! lobster HELP HELP!!!!

[medic_diver45]

An expert on crustacean viruses....now I have heard of an expert in everything.....

 

[CBulla]

I have a problem with crustations..... I wonder if its a virus......


BLAH!

Anyhoo, I remember hearing about this on NPR weeks ago. If I remember correctly, there isn't tooo much concern about it goign out of control as the lobsters mainly effected are juvinile and once infected only live for a few days to a week there after.

 

[murphdivers286]

Anyhoo, I remember hearing about this on NPR weeks ago. If I remember correctly, there isn't tooo much concern about it goign out of control as the lobsters mainly effected are juvinile and once infected only live for a few days to a week there after.

But what if it starts to effect more and more juveniles. That would mean fewer and fewer grown lobsters. If is kept up the whole species could be in danger.

 

[Hank49]

An expert on crustacean viruses....now I have heard of an expert in everything.....

These experts developed their skills to support the shrimp industry. It's a huge and getting towards the level of chickens as far as genetic improvement and disease management. Countries like Ecuador were world leaders in shrimp production and then were virtually wiped out by the introduction of a virus. Taura and White Spot mainly.
But I don't think it will wipe out the species. There are always some that will survive and pass on their resistant genes to their offspring. They may decrease in number for a few years but will come back. Hank

 

[algal bloom]

But what if it starts to effect more and more juveniles. That would mean fewer and fewer grown lobsters. If is kept up the whole species could be in danger.

Not if the lobsters that are not being infected are not infected due to some evolutionary advantage (or disadvantage to the infected ones). If that be the case, a much stonger population of "immune" lobsters would be the result.

 

[gfisher4792]

Not if the lobsters that are not being infected are not infected due to some evolutionary advantage (or disadvantage to the infected ones). If that be the case, a much stonger population of "immune" lobsters would be the result.

But what if this statement/fact holds true?

Interesting - the virus apparently attacks young lobsters (too small to harvest) and is 100% fatal to them. It's called PAV1 (Panulirus argus virus 1) and is the first virus known to infect the spiny lobster.

Granted, there could be some immune lobsters, but won't the population as a whole crash?

 

[Hank49]

Not if the lobsters that are not being infected are not infected due to some evolutionary advantage (or disadvantage to the infected ones). If that be the case, a much stonger population of "immune" lobsters would be the result.

This is exactly what happens in shrimp. Not necessarily stronger, but specifically immune to the virus.
I have contacted U of Arizona and they're looking into this.
What I have found is that it's been around since 99 and lobster catch dropped from 6 million lbs in 2000 to only 3 million lbs in 2002. We saw poor harvests here in Belize the last few years too.
What is scary is that shrimp farmers may have introduced it to Belize by importing shrimp from Florida, from a certified disease free facility. Unfortunately new viruses in crustaceans are identified every year, and now one of them has apparently mutated twice. Animals bred for resistance to the "old" virus are not immune to the mutation and 70% die when exposed to it. They're identified through DNA probing. I"ll post whatever I find from U of A. Hank

 

[CBulla]

The biggest thing to do is not to worry to much about it because there isn't much we can do about it. For some reason though, I see one or two fanatics with waterproof posters out off shore at night trying to educate Lobster on the facts of Lobster AIDS and how to prevent the spread of it.. diagrams and circles with lines through it on what not to do and such.

It'll sort itself out, however, I am very interested in knowing what the research results are.

 

[algal bloom]

This is exactly what happens in shrimp. Not necessarily stronger, but specifically immune to the virus.

Thanks, Hank. I didn't mean to say stronger, but sure enough I did! I think I just meant to say, you end up with a population with a higher percentage of individuals not prone to infection, once the ones that are prone are weeded out. Not that that the individuals them selves are stronger!

 

[Hank49]

Thanks, Hank. I didn't mean to say stronger, but sure enough I did! I think I just meant to say, you end up with a population with a higher percentage of individuals not prone to infection, once the ones that are prone are weeded out. Not that that the individuals them selves are stronger!

Within five generations you can breed shrimp that start with a survival rate against Taura Virus of about 25% back up to 75%. (This is under farm conditions.) If this lobster virus is of this type, the numbers will bounce back within a few years.
The white spot virus is different. one is a DNA virus the other RNA and selective breeding for resistance doesn't work near as effectively. But, this virus, although lethal, hides like herpes. They can carry it but it will only kill the animals if the water temperature drops below 28C for an extended period. And it doesn't spread so easily. We don't have that one in Belize but it's on the Pacific side of Central America. But, it hasn't wiped out the wild catch of tiger shrimp in Asia yet Most all wild caught shrimp are carriers but are not sick. Crustacean viruses make me lose sleep.
But the main point of the thread was can they pass it on to people. Non have to this date. You who eat shrimp have been eating white spot virus and taura virus for over 5 years.