SHELL LOSS SYNDROME IN RED AND WHITE ABALONE (HALIOTIS RUFESCENS AND HALITOIS SORENSENI)

Publication Date

7-31-2024

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Shellfish Research

Volume

43

Issue

2

DOI

10.2983/035.043.0208

First Page

213

Last Page

216

Abstract

White abalone (Haliotis sorenseni) are an endangered species found along the southern California and Baja, Mexico coast. To recover the species population, conservation aquaculture is currently used to culture the species for out planting to wild habitat. Withering syndrome, caused by the bacterium Candidatus xenohaliotis californiensis attacking the digestive tract is known to impact the survivorship of the species in captivity. An experiment to test the effectiveness of probiotic Bacillus licheniformis in reducing the impact of the disease on white abalone exposed to infected red abalone was conducted. During this study, unexpected shell loss was observed in both the red and white abalone. Shell loss had been observed in other facilities, but the rate of shell loss in this experiment was on a larger scale than previously observed (43% in white abalone and 52% in red abalone). There was no significant difference detected in shell loss rate between experimental disease treatments indicating that the probiotic was not responsible for the shell loss. The initial study was abandoned, and two subsequent studies were conducted to better understand the cause of the shell loss. Shell loss syndrome was investigated to determine if the shell loss was infectious, but the shell loss could not be replicated via exposure to symptomatic animals. This observational study discusses other possible causes of shell loss syndrome including water quality, shell irritants, and other stressors. Although no specific cause of shell loss could be determined it is possible that a combination of stressors on the abalone in this experiment could have caused shell loss. This investigation details the rate and progression of shell loss, the impacts of shell loss on abalone health, and the survival rates of abalone with shell loss syndrome.

Keywords

bacterial infection, harmful algal bloom, hydrogen sulfide, red abalone, shell loss, white abalone

Department

Moss Landing Marine Laboratories

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS