A Three‐Year Survey of Penaeid Shrimp and Callinectid Crabs from Texas Coastal Waters for Signs of Disease Caused by White Spot Syndrome Virus or Taura Syndrome Virus

Abstract

AbstractThe Gulf of Mexico has the largest shrimp industry in the United States, including both natural fisheries and aquaculture resources. Aquaculture production comes primarily from Texas shrimp farms. With intensification of the farmed shrimp industry and international commerce in aquatic species, the incidence of infectious disease outbreaks has become a growing problem. In 1995, the Texas farmed shrimp industry suffered heavy losses during an outbreak of Taura syndrome virus. Rapid disease transmission, in conjunction with high pond mortalities during the grow‐out season, revealed the need for a structured preventive health plan with stringent biosecurity measures. In addition, native indigenous shrimp and crab species have never been systematically evaluated for infectious disease agents. Concern for these native species prompted the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to initiate a survey to evaluate the general health status of select indigenous marine invertebrate species along the Texas coast. From October 1997 through September 2000, 5,399 commercially important wild penaeid shrimp (2,009 white shrimp Litopenaeus setiferus, 2,868 brown shrimp Farfantepenaeus aztecus, and 522 pink shrimp F. duorarum) and 935 crabs (630 blue crabs Callinectes sapidus and 305 lesser blue crabs C. similis) were collected from randomly selected locations in nine Texas coastal bay systems and evaluated for known viral pathogens with the use of histopathology and in situ hybridization. In this study, only the virus Baculovirus penaei was detected in three brown shrimp. Taura syndrome virus and white spot syndrome virus were not detected within the testing limitations of this study.