A non-lethal method for detection of Bonamia ostreae in flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) using environmental DNA.

Surveillance and diagnosis of parasitic Bonamia ostreae infections in flat oysters (Ostrea edulis) are prerequisites for protection and management of wild populations. In addition, reliable and non-lethal detection methods are required for selection of healthy brood oysters in aquaculture productions. Here we present a non-lethal diagnostic technique based on environmental DNA (eDNA) from water samples and demonstrate applications in laboratory trials.

Effects of the DSP-toxic dinoflagellate Dinophysis acuta on clearance and respiration rate of the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis.

Diarrheic Shellfish Poisoning toxins (DST) are a severe health risk to shellfish consumers and can be a major problem for the shellfish industry. Bivalve molluscs can accumulate DST via ingestion of toxic dinoflagellates like Dinophysis spp., which are the most prominent producers of DST.

Impact of temperature and pyrene exposure on the functional response of males and females of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus.

We know very little about the effects of two global stressors, elevated temperature and contaminants, on the grazing of marine copepods. To address this issue, we tested the hypotheses that the individual and combined effects of these two stressors may reduce grazing rates and may depend on food availability and gender. We exposed male and female Calanus finmarchicus copepods to pyrene at two temperatures (10 and 14 °C) and six food concentrations (25-800 μg C Rhodomonas baltica L) and measured fecal pellet size, and grazing rate (GR) from pellet production.

The blue mussel Mytilus edulis is vulnerable to the toxic dinoflagellate Karlodinium armiger-Adult filtration is inhibited and several life stages killed.

Blooms of the toxic dinoflagellates Karlodinium armiger and K. veneficum are frequently observed in Alfacs Bay, Spain, causing mass mortality to wild and farmed mussels. An isolate of K.

Accumulation, transformation and breakdown of DSP toxins from the toxic dinoflagellate Dinophysis acuta in blue mussels, Mytilus edulis.

Okadaic acid (OA), dinophysistoxins (DTX) and pectenotoxins (PTX) produced by the dinoflagellates Dinophysis spp. can accumulate in shellfish and cause diarrhetic shellfish poisoning upon human consumption. Shellfish toxicity is a result of algal abundance and toxicity as well as accumulation and depuration kinetics in mussels.

The potent respiratory system of Osedax mucofloris (Siboglinidae, Annelida)--a prerequisite for the origin of bone-eating Osedax?

Members of the conspicuous bone-eating genus, Osedax, are widely distributed on whale falls in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. These gutless annelids contain endosymbiotic heterotrophic bacteria in a branching root system embedded in the bones of vertebrates, whereas a trunk and anterior palps extend into the surrounding water. The unique life style within a bone environment is challenged by the high bacterial activity on, and within, the bone matrix possibly causing O(2) depletion, and build-up of potentially toxic sulphide.

Do Acartia tonsa (Dana) eggs regulate their volume and osmolality as salinity changes?

Subitaneous eggs from an euryhaline calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa were challenged by changes in salinity within the range from full strength salinity, down to zero and up to >70 psu. Egg volume changed immediately, increasing from 2.8 × 10(5) μm(3) at full strength salinity (35 psu) to 3.