Perkinsosis warning!

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Amphiprion
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Perkinsosis warning!

Post by Amphiprion »

Just letting everyone know that clams are coming in infected with Perkinsosis again. Perkinsus spp. are dinoflagellates that cause the disease commonly known as "pinched mantle disease" or just PM for short--clinical name is Perkinsosis. It is deadly in a relatively short period of time and seems to be exacerbated by elevated and/or continous iron concentrations (this means your iron oxide hydroxide-based phosphate removers may actually help out this parasite). I recommend a 30 minute minimum (sounds harsh, I know) freshwater dip for any new clam additions to knock down parasite concentrations. Also, discontinue phosphate removers for a while. When the clam is established, try to slowly reintroduce the phosphate removal media after rinsing it very thoroughly and add a good amount of fresh carbon simultaneously. Be on the lookout for telltale signs on clams in infected systems, which include chronically withdrawn mantles and curled mantle edges (usually in later stages). Other signs include a chronically "pinched-in" mantle portion. FWIW, it is not known to be pathogenic in humans.
Andrew

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Post by snoopdog »

Oh great....
"When they was no meat we ate fowl, when there was no fowl we ate crawdad. And when there was no crawdad to be found, we ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate what?"--H.I.
"We ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate sand?"--H.I.
"That's right."--Cellmate
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Post by Amphiprion »

snoopdog wrote:Oh great....
Tell me about it. I managed to give it to my 2.5 year old crocea. It came in on that little maxima I had in my restart thread. Unfortunately, I was unable to save the little maxima. I can only hope the crocea will pull through, but to give you an idea, I've already dipped it 4 times without much luck. The first 3 were ~30 minutes, the last was about an hour. I gave it 4-5 days in between dips, too. The stuff is wicked and looks like malaria under a microscope.
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Post by snoopdog »

Amphiprion wrote:
snoopdog wrote:Oh great....
malaria under a microscope.
Probably is.
"When they was no meat we ate fowl, when there was no fowl we ate crawdad. And when there was no crawdad to be found, we ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate what?"--H.I.
"We ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate sand?"--H.I.
"That's right."--Cellmate
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Amphiprion
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Post by Amphiprion »

Well, it turns out that they aren't related, but it seems many protozoans can have similar looking life cycles. Take a look at the similarity (you're looking at the ringlike structures in the pic--those are the mature trophozoites):

Perkinsus
Image

Plasmodium falciparum
Image

See the ring structures in both (malaria one on upper part is pretty clear)? Kinda weird. Clam malaria, almost.[/img]
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Post by snoopdog »

Alright you are going to have to treat me like a moron. If it were code I would have it figured out. It appears I am retarded where cells come in. Explain to me better I guess.
"When they was no meat we ate fowl, when there was no fowl we ate crawdad. And when there was no crawdad to be found, we ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate what?"--H.I.
"We ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate sand?"--H.I.
"That's right."--Cellmate
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Amphiprion
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Post by Amphiprion »

No problem. I have circled the ring structures/trophozoites in red. This is simply one stage in a relatively complex life cycle (think ich, but more complicated). They are actually all intracellular parasites--so they are inside of the cells much of their life. When they reproduce, they lyse (burst) the cells, which kills them. Toxic metabolites are also produced.
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Post by snoopdog »

Oh, I get it. Where did you get the pictures :o
"When they was no meat we ate fowl, when there was no fowl we ate crawdad. And when there was no crawdad to be found, we ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate what?"--H.I.
"We ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate sand?"--H.I.
"That's right."--Cellmate
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Amphiprion
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Post by Amphiprion »

snoopdog wrote:Oh, I get it. Where did you get the pictures :o
I didn't personally take these, so I just used google scholar search to find them. Unfortunately, at the time I looked at the clam hemolymph ("blood") under the microscope, I didn't take any pictures, even though a camera with the appropriate attachment was available. If I have a clam that dies from it in the future (hopefully not) or if someone else donates one that just died, I can get some actual pictures :).
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Post by Crustman »

Does the intracellular parasite produce a spore to infect other clams? Will UV light wipe out the motile stage? Are clams commonly infected in the wild or aquaculture facilities?
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Post by Amphiprion »

Crustman wrote:Does the intracellular parasite produce a spore to infect other clams? Will UV light wipe out the motile stage? Are clams commonly infected in the wild or aquaculture facilities?
Yes, it produces what is termed a zoospore. It is biflagellate, usually 2-4 micrometers long and enters the gill apparatus via ingestion, where it enters the cells in the intestine.

It is quite rampant in aquaculture facilites and seems to be fairly common in the wild, infecting a very wide range of bivalve species. There are several accepted species, though two major ones consisting of P. marinus, P. olseni. Older references classify them with malaria in the Apicomplexa, but they are considered to be a dinoflagellate.

I doubt UV will be that effective, unless you get a rather large unit that can sport a very long contact time at a high enough flow rate to actually get some reasonable turnover. Unfortunately, the ones necessary are very large and expensive. These organisms are just too large compared to most algae and bacteria, which is also why UV truly isn't that effective against ich.
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Post by Crustman »

Wow, Andrew, you know much about the pathology and transmission of this disease. Do you work at Progressive Marine? I studied marine parasitology in the past but mostly worked with helminths. Nice to see that there is much information here when I decide to purchase a Tridacna.
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Post by Amphiprion »

Crustman wrote:Wow, Andrew, you know much about the pathology and transmission of this disease. Do you work at Progressive Marine? I studied marine parasitology in the past but mostly worked with helminths. Nice to see that there is much information here when I decide to purchase a Tridacna.
Hi, yes I work at progressive. I believe you were the person who specialized in the taxonomy of Tanaidaceans, correct? Aside from some flukes, I don't know too much about marine helminthic diseases.
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Post by Crustman »

You are right Andrew. Tanaidaceans are my specialty. I really enjoy my visits to your store and soon will be able to buy some livestock.
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