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Risk assessment of parasitic/symbiotic organisms of the commercially important mytilid Modiolus barbatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Author(s) -
Mladineo Ivona
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
aquaculture research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.646
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-2109
pISSN - 1355-557X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2109.2008.02047.x
Subject(s) - biology , mussel , fauna , abundance (ecology) , bay , ecology , zoology , population , environmental health , medicine , civil engineering , engineering
A parasitological survey of the edible and commercially valuable mytilid horse‐bearded mussel ( Modiolus barbatus Linnaeus, 1758) was carried out in the Mali Ston Bay, Adriatic Sea, in 2004 and 2005 to assess the potential effects of parasites/symbionts on this bivalve population. Data sets of abundance and prevalence were used to evaluate the structure and dynamics of infracommunities and component parasitic/symbiotic communities, along with evaluated histopathological changes, to assess the overall risk that these organisms pose to the mytilid. Based on moderate diversity indices and expected seasonal oscillation between the values of prevalence/abundance, parasitic/symbiotic fauna of M. barbatus was shown to be relatively stable, although moderately impoverished assemblages, dominated by two species, turbellarian Paravortex cardii and gregarine Nematopsis sp. Histopathological changes indicated only three species as pathogenic – Gymnophallus sp. sporocysts, Nematopsis sp. and a haplosporidian, although their pathological risk was assessed to be very low or low. From the epizootiological point of view, parasites are not a limiting factor for the successful introduction and farming of the M. barbatus .