Biol. Bull. Sign up for etocs!
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Smolowitz, R. M.
Right arrow Articles by Abt, D. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Smolowitz, R. M.
Right arrow Articles by Abt, D. A.

The Biological Bulletin, Vol 183, Issue 1 99-112, Copyright © 1992 by Marine Biological Laboratory

PATHOLOGY

Pathologic Cuticular Changes of Winter Impoundment Shell Disease Preceding and During Intermolt in the American Lobster, Homarus americanus

R. M. Smolowitz, R. A. Bullis and D. A. Abt
Laboratory for Marine Animal Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543

Cuticular lesions from twenty-four market sized lobsters (Homarus americanus) with winter impoundment shell disease were examined. Histological descriptions of cuticular lesions were correlated with the substage of molt for each lobster, because cuticle components and inflammatory mechanisms vary in each. A lesion severity grading system was developed and applied to four specific substages of the five-stage (A-E) molting cycle. Lesions present in substage C4, in which the membranous layer is deposited, and D0 (passive premolt) were divided into five grades, ranging from mild erosions (Grade I) to severe ulceration (Grade V) of the cuticle. Cuticular lesions from lobsters in C4/D0 were compared with cuticular lesions from lobsters in substages C2/C3. Defensive mechanisms exhibited by animals in all substages were epicuticle deposition, melanization, inflammatory cell infiltration, and pseudomembrane formation. In addition, animals in C4 and D0 showed proliferation of the membranous layer in affected foci. The lesion grading scheme presented in this paper can be used to describe and compare both inter- and intraspecies crustacean shell lesions.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Appl. Environ. Microbiol.Home page
C. Costa-Ramos and A. F. Rowley
Effect of Extracellular Products of Pseudoalteromonas atlantica on the Edible Crab Cancer pagurus
Appl. Envir. Microbiol., February 1, 2004; 70(2): 729 - 735.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Biol. Bull.Home page
A. C. Hsu and R. M. Smolowitz
Scanning Electron Microscopy Investigation of Epizootic Lobster Shell Disease in Homarus americanus
Biol. Bull., October 1, 2003; 205(2): 228 - 230.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 MicrobiologyHome page
C. L. Vogan, C. Costa-Ramos, and A. F. Rowley
Shell disease syndrome in the edible crab, Cancer pagurus - isolation, characterization and pathogenicity of chitinolytic bacteria
Microbiology, February 1, 2002; 148(3): 743 - 754.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1992 by the Marine Biological Laboratory.