Meeting Abstract
Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) are heavily farmed in the Gulf of Maine and are exposed to the rapid changes of the ecosystem, as well as to the potential for infection of newly invasive parasites. To develop a measure of mussel health in the changing ecosystem, 10 mussels were collected bimonthly from an inshore and offshore mussel farm site and processed for histology. Additionally, temperature and chlorophyll concentration were measured to assess connections between the organisms’ surroundings and organismal health. Of the mussels analyzed over 29 months, 91% exhibited oocyte atresia and 49% exhibited digestive gland atrophy, indicating exposure to environmental stress. Histological analyses also showed infections with trematode worms. Because speciation is not possible via histology, PCR was performed on mussels that showed infections. As a species of concern off the coast of Maine, Proctoeces maculatus was tested for using species-specific PCR primers; sequencing of the respective samples is ongoing. P. maculatus has not yet been documented as far north as the Gulf of Maine, but is currently expanding its range northward into New Hampshire and has caused severe economic damage to bivalve aquaculture in the southern areas of its current documented range. An eDNA assay to detect P. maculatus in the waters around the mussel farm is currently in development. Therefore, our findings show that M. edulis farming in the Gulf of Maine is affected by the rapid environmental changes of the ecosystem, indicated by a shift away from proper tissue growth, and potentially show the first record of the parasitic trematode P. maculatus in Maine waters.
