A Bacterial Disease of the Lobster ( Homarus americanus )

Abstract

During the summer of 1946 there was a heavy mortality of lobsters along the coast of Maine. Micrococci of the Gaffkya type were found in the blood smears and the blood culture. The diseased lobsters had a pink discoloration of the ventral abdomen and the blood which was also pink had a prolonged clotting time. The severity of the disease decreased with colder weather, although an outbreak was reported in Dec. The organism was regularly isolated from diseased lobsters in pure culture and could be grown on the standard media. Lobsters inoculated with pure cultures of the organism died within 2 wks. with typical symptoms of the disease. Sulfonamides reduced the mortality among lobsters which contracted the disease in a natural way.