Shell deformity as a marker for retrospective detection of a pathogenic unicellular alga, Coccomyxa sp., in mytilid mussels: A first case study and research agenda.

An L-shaped shell deformity (LSSD) on the posterior shell edge is known exclusively in wild mytilid mussels infected with photosynthetic Coccomyxa-like algae. LSSD forms due to the appearance of extra shell material; it only occurs if the mussel is heavily infected with the alga. Traditionally, observation of high amount of the green spots (algal colonies) on a large area of host soft tissues (most of the mantle and in adductor muscle) has been used to indicate a high infection rate. We examined 300 Mytilus spp. (100 small, 20-30 mm; 200 large, 40-60 mm) with a high degree of LSSD (parameter "d" > 5 mm) from the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary (Québec, Canada). Green spots were absent in two large mussels, and were only present along the mantle posterior edge in 14 large mussels; other individuals had high infection levels. Our observations suggest that some individuals could be in a state of remission, or, even more optimistically - mussels may be able to resist the pathogen. LSSD is the stable through-time marker for detection of mytilid mussels that are or were infected with Coccomyxa algae, and, thus, may provide information for the study of mussel immunity and control of alga distribution/migration in coastal waters worldwide.

Pre-exposure to Cu2+ and CuO NPs leads to infection of caged blue mussels, Mytilus edulis L., by pathogenic microalga: Pilot study in the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary (Québec, Canada).

As evidenced from literature, exposure to non-lethal concentrations of dissolved copper (Cu2+) and copper nanoparticles (CuO NPs) promotes blue mussels susceptibility to various bacterial infections. We study whether pre-exposure (3.5 h) with CuSO4 (100 µg Cu L-1) and CuO NPs (1000 µg Cu L-1) will result in infection of M. edulis L. with pathogenic microalga Coccomyxa sp. under field conditions. In May - September 2019, cages were installed in the site Metis-sur-Mer, St. Lawrence Estuary (QC, Canada) where the native mussel population is known to be infected with the pathogen. Untreated and pre-exposed mussels were grown for up to 130 days. Only the mussels pre-exposed to copper were infected by Coccomyxa. This finding allows proposing that occurrences of Coccomyxa-infected mussels worldwide might have an association with water pollution with xenobiotics. Pre-exposure of caged mussels to copper, as a protocol monitoring for other infectious agents, can be recommended to test.

SEM observation of structural (non-mineralogical) alteration inside the previously crystallized nacreous layer of Crenomytilus grayanus (Bivalvia: Mytilidae).

A microstructural and mineralogical study shows the transition of aragonitic nacreous tablets to aragonitic prisms inside previously secreted nacre, i.e. without contact with the mantle or extrapallial fluid, in a field-collected mytilid bivalve Crenomytilus grayanus (D.). The intermediate zone between nacre and new prisms is represented by nacre tablets "stuck together" or by disordered calcium carbonate material. The modified nacre forms aragonitic lenses of prisms (ALPs). These lenses may reach 500 µm in thickness below the tunnels excavated by the shell borers. ALPs are similar to myostracal prisms in mineralogy, morphology, and orientation, but differ from those in the outer shell layer. The process of ALPs formation is different to that of normal shell formation (e.g. nacre-prisms transition between prismatic and nacreous layers), remote biomineralization, extra shell thickening, as well as, shell repair, erosion, deformation or disease. Response to shell excavation by boring organisms is discussed as the reason for the appearance of ALPs.