Hematodinium perezi is a pathogenic dinoflagellate parasite that infects crustaceans, including the Blue Crab and Norway Lobster and has been observed to have a significant impact on crustacean fisheries.
[1] Infected crustaceans frequently show signs of weakness and lethargy, and often die due to stress-related handling from fishing as well as metabolic exhaustion due to reduced feeding.
[4] Infected crabs have been observed to have mortality rates as high as 86 percent after only a few weeks, and infection is found to be more prevalent in higher salinity waters towards the mouth of the bay where Callinectes go to spawn, generally 12 PSU and up.
[5] H. perezi demonstrates tropism for the hemolymph of crabs and diagnosis of Hematodinium infection can be made with through microscopic visualization of the parasite in prepared slides.
This article related to a parasitic member of the SAR supergroup is a stub.