Quahog Parasite Unknown (Qpx) And Its Growing Impact On The Hard Clam.

This article presents information on the 97th Annual Meeting of the National Shellfisheries Association held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from April 10-14, 2005. The first presentation was provided by Soren F. Dahl, who coauthored a paper with colleagues from Marine Sciences Research Center titled Transmission of Quahog Parasite Unknown In Hard Clams: Interactions Between Different Host Strains And Pathogen Isolates. Dahl noted this pathogen caused a major hard clam mortality event in the summer of 2002 in Raritan Bay, a source area for the state's hard clam relay fishery, necessitating the suspension of this transplant program. The second presentation was given by M. Maille Lyons, who coauthored the paper titled Quahog Parasite Unknown (QPX) and Marine Aggregates: Are Macrophytes The Link? They investigated the role of marine aggregates as an environmental reservoir for the thraustochytrid pathogenic QPX parasite of the northern quahog. The third presentation was by Bassem Allam, who coauthored the paper titled Monitoring QPX Disease In Rartan-Sandy Hook Bays: Results of A 3-year Survey Program. The quahog populations in this area represents an important marine resource for the states of New York and New Jersey, which use this population as a source for their hard clam relay fisheries. The presence of QPX in this area was confirmed during the summer of 2002, resulting in the suspension of transplant fisheries.