A histopathological study of the geoduck clam Panopea abbreviata from San José Gulf, Northpatagonia, Argentina

VAZQUEZ, N.N.; CRISTIÁN ITUARTE; CREMONTE , FLORENCIA

JOURNAL OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2015 p. 1 - 9

0025-3154

This is the first study performed to determine the health status of the geoduck Panopea abbreviata in the San José and San Matías gulfs (North Patagonia, Argentina). The study was based on 120 geoducks collected (30 specimens in each season) at FracassoBeach (42º25?S, 64º07?W) (San José Gulf) and 30 specimens collected during the austral summer at Puerto Lobos (42º00´S, 65º05´W) (San Matías Gulf). The parasites found (prevalence in parenthesis) were: prokaryotic inclusions (32.2%) affecting the epithelium of the digestive gland, ciliates (79%) mainly found in gills, Porospora-like gregarines (15.2%) in the connective tissue between inner and outer mantle epitheliums, the turbellarian Paravortex panopea (27.1%) in the intestine lumen, the nemertean Malacobdella arrokeana (98.3%) in the pallial cavity, and the green alga Coccomyxa parasitica (51%) parasitising the hemocytes in the connective tissue of the distal end of the siphon. The highest mean parasitic abundance value was found in the late austral spring (November), coinciding with the lowest values of the condition index of the host. The populations of P. abbreviata from San José Gulf seemed to be devoid of severe pathogens.