Blue Crab Health Assessment

Blue crab health conditions and toxin concentrations will be monitored throughout the year to observe seasonal changes in parasites, diseases and toxicity in relation to water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and the spreading of harmful algal bloom or red tide distribution.  A result of this health study will be to develop a standardized protocol for reporting blue crab health conditions that  will later be used by FWRI Fisheries Independent Monitoring groups throughout Florida.

Preliminary data indicates that the presence of some parasites can be observed in blue crabs in the wild.  For example, a crab with pink coloring on underside of its shell may be infected with the parasite Hematodinium sp.  While this parasite is not harmful to humans, the infected crab meat has a bitter taste (leading to the name of the condition: “bitter crab”) and is generally inedible. A full report on the results of this study, including blue crab disease recognition (pictures, descriptions, etc.) and tips on diseased crab disposal is scheduled to be posted on the FWRI Web site sometime late in 2007.