Do ecological characteristics drive the prevalence of Panulirus argus virus 1 (PaV1) in juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters in a tropical reef lagoon?

ABSTRACT: PaV1 is a pathogenic virus found only to infect Caribbean spiny lobsters Panulirus argus, a major fishing resource. P. argus is a benthic mesopredator and has a complex life history, with several ontogenetic habitat changes. Habitat characteristics and species diversity of surrounding communities may have implications for disease dynamics. This is of more concern for juvenile lobsters, which are more susceptible to PaV1 and are far less mobile than adult lobsters. We targeted a population of juvenile P. argus in a reef lagoon in Mexico, where PaV1 was first observed in 2001. Prevalence has been since irregularly assessed, but in 2016 we began a more systematic assessment, with two sampling periods per year (June and November) in three different zones of the reef lagoon. To examine the rela

SUBMITTER: Davies CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7048287 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature