A First Report of Shell Disease Impacting Cancer borealis (Jonah Crab) in the Bay of Fundy

David B. Carlon; Patrick Warner; Clay Starr; David J Anderson; Zakir Bulmer; Hugh Cipparone; Jesse Dunn; Caroline Godfrey; Claire Goffinet; Miranda Miller; Charlotte Nash

doi:10.1656/045.025.0411

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1 November 2018 A First Report of Shell Disease Impacting Cancer borealis (Jonah Crab) in the Bay of Fundy

David B. Carlon, Patrick Warner, Clay Starr, David J Anderson, Zakir Bulmer, Hugh Cipparone, Jesse Dunn, Caroline Godfrey, Claire Goffinet, Miranda Miller, Charlotte Nash

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Northeastern Naturalist, 25(4): (2018). https://doi.org/10.1656/045.025.0411

Abstract

Several shell diseases are impacting a variety of decapod crustaceans in southern New England, but have rarely been reported in the colder waters of the eastern Gulf of Maine. Here we document a possible outbreak of shell disease impacting Cancer borealis (Jonah Crab) on Kent Island, NB, Canada. On low tides of 31 August 31–3 September 2017 we found hundreds of Jonah Crabs stranded above the tide line and resting on top of the dense canopies of fucoid algae. Closer inspection of exoskeletons revealed the clinical signs of classical shell disease: dark circular patches and lesions that penetrated the cuticle. A sample of 30 stranded Jonah Crabs revealed that 28 (93%) were adult females. On the next low tide, we found the same pattern of exposed Jonah Crabs and observed numerous instances of Larus smithsonianus (Herring Gull) predation. Continuous monitoring of shallow-water temperatures over the last 3 years revealed that average daily summer temperatures have been regularly exceeding a shell-disease threshold of 12 °C on Kent Island. Between 13 September and 31 October 2015 there were 19 days with an average water temperature above 12 °C and 43 days during the same interval in 2016.

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David B. Carlon, Patrick Warner, Clay Starr, David J Anderson, Zakir Bulmer, Hugh Cipparone, Jesse Dunn, Caroline Godfrey, Claire Goffinet, Miranda Miller, and Charlotte Nash "A First Report of Shell Disease Impacting Cancer borealis (Jonah Crab) in the Bay of Fundy," Northeastern Naturalist 25(4), (1 November 2018). https://doi.org/10.1656/045.025.0411

Published: 1 November 2018

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