DAO 28:73-77 (1997)  -  doi:10.3354/dao028073

An unusually high incidence of disseminated neoplasia was found in a single year class of juvenile oysters surveyed histologically in lower Delaware Bay, New Jersey, USA. Neoplasms were found on 13 of the 18 collection dates, and in 19 of the 834 oysters sampled, between 23 April and 24 October 1991. No cases were found among the more than 2200 other juvenile oysters examined from 1988 to 1994. The prevalence pattern of neoplasia followed that of gametogenesis, suggesting some link with the reproductive process, although oysters with neoplasia generally had lower gonadal indices than those without the disorder. The occurrence of neoplasia in this group of oysters was associated with exceptionally heavy setting of that year class. The resulting extreme crowding may have stressed the oysters and would have fostered transmission of a putative infectious agent.

Neoplasia · Oyster · Crassostrea virginica · Gametogenesis