Marine macroparasite behavior and mitigation techniques in bay scallop aquaculture

Bay scallops Argopecten irradians once supported a successful wild fishery that collapsed in the 1980’s due to habitat loss and overfishing. In order to replace lost economic value and ecological benefits in coastal areas along the northeastern United States, bay scallop restoration and aquaculture efforts have been ongoing for many decades. However, these efforts can be complicated by parasites known to reduce growth and reproductive success of bay scallops. Pea crabs Pinnotheres maculatus and mud blister worms Polydora spp. are two parasites that infect wild and captive bay scallop populations, both of which are known to cause reductions in fitness and reproductive potential of their host. The goals of this study were to 1) Describe the natural infection dynamics of mud blister worms and pea crabs in host bay scallops; 2) Determine effective mitigation strategies to avoid macroparasites; 3) Determine susceptibility of bay scallops to infection by adult male and female pea crabs based on temperature. Results from this study will help illustrate when pea crabs and mud blister worms naturally infect their host bay scallops, how to avoid pea crab and mud blister worm infections in bay scallop aquaculture, and what life stages of pea crabs may be able to infect bay scallops.