Pacific oysters are a sink and a potential source of the eelgrass pathogen, Labyrinthula zosterae ...

• Main Authors: Agnew, M Victoria, Groner, Maya L., Eisenlord, Morgan E., Friedman, Carolyn S., Burge, Colleen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Inter-Research 2022
• Subjects: Pacific; Crassostrea gigas; Pacific oyster
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.13016/m2kjsx-ntez; https://mdsoar.org/handle/11603/26596

Oyster aquaculture and seagrasses often co-occur and are each vital to the ecological and economic value of coastal ecosystems. Global declines in seagrasses, including Zostera mari - na, have recently been observed in association with multiple factors, including infection with diseases such as seagrass wasting disease (SWD), caused by the protist Labyrinthula zosterae. Protection of seagrasses has led to restrictions on oyster aquaculture due to perceived negative impacts on seagrass beds; however, positive impacts may also occur. An important aquaculture species, the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas, can filter L. zosterae from the water, potentially re - ducing pathogen transmission, although oysters may vector infection if they accumulate and re - lease live L. zosterae into the water. We investigated whether oyster presence decreases lesion severity and infection intensity in eelgrass, or acts as a vector of L. zosterae, via laboratory and field experiments. In the laboratory, oysters and eelgrass were ...