Detection and Prevalence of Boluunia spp. through PCR in bivalve populations from three sites in the Indian River Lagoon in Florida

Bivalves are important aquatic species that are an integral part of food web dynamics and nutrient cycling. As filter feeding organisms, bivalves impact on aquatic habitats, includes their ability clean up the surrounding water which allows under water plants to receive sunlight, increase oxygen and provide additional habitat to that provided by created oyster reefs. Oyster diseases such as Bonamiosis caused by the parasite Bonamia spp. may decimate bivalve populations, causing a potential threat to the
habitat of other aquatic organisms. The objective of this study was to identify the seasonal prevalence of Bonamia spp. in bivalve populations and correlate that to its environmental preference (i.e. salinity, temperature.). The results of this study show that Bonamia spp. is not only present in multiple sites and multiple bivalve species in the Indian River Lagoon, FL but is more prevalent in the fall compared to the other seasons as is seen with other oyster parasites, such as Perkinsus spp. This points for the need for additional studies to determine if Bonamia spp are having an impact on the bivalve populations in Florida and whether this parasites is causing an impact to the surrounding environment.