<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Porcelain disease, caused by the parasite <italic>Astathelohania contejeani</italic>, is a fatal disease for freshwater crayfish. Previously published data provide information on the occurrence of <italic>A. contejeani</italic> in various crayfish species. However, its prevalence in host populations remains largely undetermined. This issue is relevant to the narrow-clawed crayfish <italic>Pontastacus leptodactylus</italic>, a species of high commercial value in Eastern Europe. A single published report addressed a potential microsporidia infection in <italic>P. leptodactylus</italic>, but without specific data on geographical location and prevalence. We present the first detailed information on the prevalence of <italic>A. contejeani</italic> in the <italic>P. leptodactylus</italic> population from Lake Losvido, including an assessment of the infection rate through both visual and molecular assessment. <italic>Astathelohania contejeani</italic> was observed in 1.56% of 128 crayfish examined visually. Of the 37 asymptomatic crayfish samples analyzed, 29.7% were found to be carriers. This finding suggests that parasitism of <italic>A. contejeani</italic> occurs frequently in the <italic>P. leptodactylus</italic> population in Lake Losvido prior to the manifestation of observable disease symptoms.</p>
</abstract>

Porcelain disease, caused by the parasite Astathelohania contejeani, is a fatal disease for freshwater crayfish. Previously published data provide information on the occurrence of A. contejeani in various crayfish species. However, its prevalence in host populations remains largely undetermined. This issue is relevant to the narrow-clawed crayfish Pontastacus leptodactylus, a species of high commercial value in Eastern Europe. A single published report addressed a potential microsporidia infection in P. leptodactylus, but without specific data on geographical location and prevalence. We present the first detailed information on the prevalence of A. contejeani in the P. leptodactylus population from Lake Losvido, including an assessment of the infection rate through both visual and molecular assessment. Astathelohania contejeani was observed in 1.56% of 128 crayfish examined visually. Of the 37 asymptomatic crayfish samples analyzed, 29.7% were found to be carriers. This finding suggests that parasitism of A. contejeani occurs frequently in the P. leptodactylus population in Lake Losvido prior to the manifestation of observable disease symptoms.

First record of <italic>Astathelohania contejeani</italic> (Henneguy, 1892) in the narrow-clawed crayfish <italic>Pontastacus leptodactylus</italic> (Eschscholtz, 1823) from Belarus

Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

First record of  (Henneguy, 1892) in the narrow-clawed crayfish  (Eschscholtz, 1823) from Belarus

Porcelain disease, caused by the parasite Astathelohania contejeani, is a fatal disease for freshwater crayfish. Previously published data provide information...

First record of Astathelohania contejeani (Henneguy, 1892) in the narrow-clawed crayfish Pontastacus leptodactylus (Eschscholtz, 1823) from Belarus

Article Category: Short communication

Published Online: Apr 01, 2024

Page range: 24 - 30

Received: Jun 05, 2023

Accepted: Nov 14, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26881/oahs-2024.1.04

© 2024 Karolina Śliwińska et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.