Status of the Sydney rock oyster in a disease-afflicted estuary: persistence of wild populations despite severe impacts on cultured counterparts
Emma M. Wilkie A D , Melanie J. Bishop A , Wayne A. O’Connor B and Ross G. McPherson C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia.
B NSW Department of Primary Industries, Port Stephens Fisheries Institute, Taylors Beach, NSW 2316, Australia.
C Environment Division, Hornsby Shire Council, Hornsby, NSW 2077, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: em.wilkie.dorp@gmail.com
Marine and Freshwater Research 64(3) 267-276 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF13010
Submitted: 19 June 2012 Accepted: 20 January 2013 Published: 18 March 2013
Abstract
Marine diseases represent a significant threat to wild organisms and the ecosystem services they support, yet studies often consider only disease impacts to aquaculture. In eastern Australia, the Sydney rock oyster (Saccostrea glomerata) aquaculture industry is increasingly affected by outbreaks of QX disease caused by parasitic Marteilia sydneyi. The present study considered impacts of M. sydneyi infection on the structure of wild-oyster populations that are dominated by S. glomerata, but that may also include the non-native Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas. In the Hawkesbury River Estuary, where cultured S. glomerata has experienced up to 98% QX-induced mortality, we found that disease prevalence was comparatively low among wild S. glomerata, peaking at 14%, and annual infections did not cause seasonal patterns of mortality. Furthermore, C. gigas, a competitor of S. glomerata that is not susceptible to QX disease, was not consistently more abundant at sites with than without the parasite. Overall, our results indicated that relative to cultured counterparts, wild S. glomerata in the Hawkesbury River Estuary is minimally affected by QX disease. Nevertheless, our study showed that diseases of aquaculture stocks have the capacity to infect wild populations, and that longer-term assessment of wild populations at risk is essential.
Additional keywords: bivalve, intertidal, invasive species, rocky shore.
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