Occurrence of Perkinsus sp. in undulated surf clams Paphia undulata from the Gulf of Thailand

Abstract

The undulated surf clam Paphia undulata supports Thailand's largest shellfishery in the Gulf of Thailand, with landings in 1999 recorded at 70 000 t (metric tonnes) yr-1. We report, for the first time, the prevalence of Perkinsus sp. in clams in the Gulf. A monthly survey from January to December 2001 utilizing the fluid thioglycollate medium (FTM) method showed that average monthly prevalence was 84.7% (n = 360). The monthly percentage of infected clams was generally 100%, with low prevalence in May (66.7%) and no infection in September. The monthly mean infection intensity in terms of Perkinsus sp. cells g-1 tissue varied from 0 in September to 187 759 ± 18 970 (x ± SE) in October. No obvious annual variation in intensity and prevalence was observed. Prezoosporangia that developed in FTM were 25 to 75 μm in diameter. A few days after incubation in aerated seawater, the prezoosporangia underwent successive binary cell division and formed motile zoospores (2 to 5 μm long). The zoospores were released into the seawater through a discharge tube formed during the 2- and 4-cell stages. Serial semi-thin sections (1 to 4 μm thickness) of clam tissue (n = 120 clams) showed developing trophozoites 3 to 6 μm in diameter within gills, connective tissue, gonads and, especially, the digestive glands. Microscopic features of different life stages indicated that Perkinsus sp. in Thailand closely resembled P. olseni (= P. atlanticus) reported in Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Spain and Portugal.