Abstract

The microsporidian Thelohania contejeani is an important parasite of the imperilled white-clawed crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes. In UK crayfish populations it causes porcelain disease leading to mortality. Currently microsporidian infection is detected either by visual examination or by post-mortem analysis of muscle samples using microscopy or PCR. However, a method to screen individual crayfish without removing them permanently from the population, and one more sensitive than visual inspection, was desired in order to screen populations of this declining crayfish. A non-lethal abdominal muscle sampling method was developed and tested first on the common signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus. Abdomen-sampled crayfish had 100% survivorship over the 6-week experiment, moulted successfully and growth was not negatively affected. Muscle samples were tested by nested PCR, using a combination of general microsporidian and T. contejeani-specific primers. PCR screening was more sensitive than visual inspection; 12.5% (N = 40) tested positive for microsporidia by PCR, none of these were visibly infected. This screening was then applied to crayfish from the field. Both white-clawed crayfish (3/8) and signal crayfish (3/30) were found to harbour microsporidia. This method could be particularly valuable for screening crayfish prior to introduction for conservation purposes and for screening populations in a sensitive manner without impacting population size.

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