Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Monsters Under The Microscope

The Halloween countdown continues with more #MonstersUnderTheMicroscope! Meet Perkinsus marinus, a deadly parasite that's been infecting oysters in Chesapeake Bay since the 1950s. This image shows a slide of oyster tissue (red) being overrun by the parasite (black dots). Because oysters are filter feeders, they can absorb the parasite in the water as they feed. Once inside, Perkinsus mutliplies, creating hundreds of thousands of cells that take over the oyster, obstructing its circulatory system and disintegrating its tissue

To up the chill factor, Perkinsus thrives in the nightly "dead zones" of the Bay's shallow waters. Read about how SERC marine ecologist Denise Breitburg's lab is tracking Perkinsus here: http://sercblog.si.edu/?p=5755 (with Rebecca Burrell and Andrew Keppel)

Monsters Under the Microscope: Mitten Crab Watch

Happy #MicroscopeMonday! Our Halloween countdown continues with more #MonstersUnderTheMicroscope. This week: Eggs of the Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) just about to hatch. The Chinese mitten crab is an invasive species that's taken hold in San Francisco and parts of Europe. It's also been spotted 100 times haunting the U.S. mid-Atlantic, with the first East Coast sighting in Baltimore in 2005. The crabs can cause river banks to collapse with their burrowing, damage or destroy fishing equipment, and have killed vast numbers of fish attempting to migrate through a fish-salvage facilities in California. (Photo: Monaca Noble)

Want to help us track the mitten crab's latest haunts? Call SERC's Mitten Crab Hotline (443-482-2222) to report any sightings, or email them to [email protected]. And remember: If you catch one, don't throw it back! More details here: http://mittencrab.nisbase.org/