Term of Award
Summer 2019
Degree Name
Master of Science in Biology (M.S.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (restricted to Georgia Southern)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Biology
Committee Chair
John Carroll
Committee Member 1
J Scott Harrison
Committee Member 2
Stephen Greiman
Abstract
The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is both an ecologically and economically important bivalve species that has experienced drastic population declines do to overharvest and habitat degradation. Populations that are impacted by anthropogenic stressors are further driven down by infections with protists like Haplosporidium nelsoni (MSX) and Perkinsus marinus (Dermo). In order to determine the prevalence and intensity of these detrimental infections, a survey was performed in Oyster Creek, Georgia. Of the oysters collected, 80% of them were infected with a single protist or both at relatively low intensities. The infection intensity was variable throughout the creek, whereas the infection prevalence was not variable. Microsatellites were used in order to determine kinship within Oyster Creek and it was found that oysters that were closely related (i.e. full/half/quarter siblings) were more likely to be located on the same reef patch than on different patches.
OCLC Number
1114332572
Catalog Permalink
https://galileo-georgiasouthern.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01GALI_GASOUTH/1fi10pa/alma9916248193202950
Recommended Citation
Watts, Jessica, "Disease Prevalence, Intensity, and Kin Structure Within the Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, in Oyster Creek, Georgia" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1976.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1976
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
