Viral infections in Australian freshwater crayfish

Abstract

Viral diseases of freshwater crayfish are poorly understood. To date, much of the research in this field has been conducted in Australia and/or on Australian freshwater crayfish species. Cherax tenuimanus, Cherax destructor and Cherax quadricarinatus are the predominant freshwater crayfish species cultured in semi-intensive systems in Australia. All three species have been translocated internationally for aquaculture. Viral infections have been reported in C. quadricarinatus and C. destructor, most reports are based on a limited number of cases (often only one or two animals). Consequently, for most of these viruses there is only limited or preliminary data on their epizootiology and pathogenicity. Infections by intranuclear bacilliform viruses (morphologically resembling the penaeid baculoviruses), parvo-like viruses, a reo-like virus, a picorna-like virus and a novel dsRNA intranuclear virus have been reported to infect Australian freshwater crayfish. This report will briefly review the current knowledge on viral infections in Australian freshwater crayfish.