Summary: DISEASES OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS
Dis Aquat Org
Vol. 77: 159­168, 2007
doi: 10.3354/dao01848
Published September 14
INTRODUCTION
The disease of hard clams Mercenaria mercenaria
(also known as quahogs) caused by the protist called
Quahog Parasite Unknown (QPX) was first reported in
wild clams from New Brunswick, Canada during the
1960s. Since then, QPX has caused high mortalities in
hatchery-reared clams from Prince Edward Island,
Canada and in commercially harvested clam populations
from Virginia, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, USA
(Whyte et al. 1994, Ragone Calvo et al. 1998, Smolowitz
et al. 1998, MacCallum & McGladdery 2000). In the sum-
mer of 2002, QPX infections suddenly appeared in the
Raritan Bay (off the coast of Staten Island, New York) M.
mercenaria population, causing significant clam mortal-
ity (Dove et al. 2004).

Source: Allam, Bassem - School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, SUNY at Stony Brook

Collections: Biology and Medicine; Environmental Sciences and Ecology