ABSTRACT: Four species of penaeid prawn cultured in Australia (Penaeus monodon, Penaeus esculentus, Marsupenaeus japonicus and Fenneropenaeus merguiensis) were injected with a virulent preparation of gill-associated virus (GAV). P. monodon (average weight = 8.9, 13.9 and 19.2 g), P. esculentus (average weight = 19.5 g), F. merguiensis (average weight = 10.5 g), and small (average weight = 5.8 g) M. japonicus displayed overt signs of disease and mortalities which reached 82 to 100% within 23 d post-injection. Cumulative mortalities in P. esculentus and F. merguiensis were significantly lower than for P. monodon of the same size class. Medium (average weight = 13.0 g) M. japonicus also developed overt signs of disease but cumulative mortalities were not significantly higher than uninfected controls. Large (average weight = 20.3 g) M. japoncius did not display symptoms of disease and there were no significant mortalities up to 23 d post-injection.

KEY WORDS: Gill-associated virus, GAV · Penaeid prawn · Disease

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Published in DAO Vol. 42, No. 3 (2000) on September 28
ISSN: 0177-5103. Copyright © Inter-Research, Oldendorf/Luhe, 2000