Abstract

Histology of the internal organs of diseased Procambarus clarkii (Girard) from Kenya revealed that the tail muscle was affected most: the muscle cells had lost their fibrils and had a fatty tissue appearance. The muscles of the claws and the eyestalks had a nearly normal appearance. The hepatopancreas of diseased animals was small in size, and there occurred extensive cellular damage especially in the distal parts of the hepatopancreatic tubules. The overall histology of the hepatopancreas suggested a heavy starvation as a possible reason for the state. In diseased animals there was a strong erosion of the gill surfaces as revealed by light microscopy an?? scanning electron microscopy. The bases of the gill filaments were filled with fine-grained material, which seemed to be oriented according to the water flow in the gill chamber. Cuticular surfaces in the gills were covered by numerous bacteria and other microflora. Even the healthy-looking crayfish had some bacterial growth on their gill surfaces. Our preliminary hypothesis is that the muscle wasting disease in P. clarkii in Kenya is primarily caused by some environmental factors that favor the accumulation of some water-born material on the gills with subsequent bacterial growth. Damage to the gill function results in overall hypoxia and gradual starvation.

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