Prevalence of Hematodinium sp. in Norway lobsters (Nephrops norvegicus) from the Clyde Sea Area (period 2018-2019)

Norway lobsters (Nephrops norvegicus) are important representatives of the benthos and support valuable fisheries accross Europe. Nephrops are susceptible to Hematodinium sp., an endoparasitic dinoflagellate that causes morbidity and mortality.  From an epizootiological perspective, the Clyde Sea Area (CSA; west of Scotland) is the best studied Hematodinium-Nephrops pathosystem. This dataset contains prevalence data of Hematodinium sp. in Nephrops collected from the CSA from November 2018 to October 2019. This dataset is linked to the publication 'Infection of Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) by the parasite Hematodinium sp.: Insights from 30 years of field observations'.

Summary on methodology: Trawls were conducted monthly from November 2018 to October 2019 (12 months) aboard the commercial fishing vessel Eilidh Anne GK2. The main capture site was the Largs-Fairly Channel (LFC) in the CSA, Scotland. Nephrops were caught at depths of between 22-74 m, using a commercial net of 86 mm diamond mesh and 3 mm compact twine size. The average trawling time was 84.5 ± 20.5 min. All trawls occurred during crepuscular periods. Nephrops were separated from by-catch on-board, and a random subset of ~150 animals per month (n = 1,739) were retained and transported on ice to the University of Stirling for the individual assessment of sex, carapace length (CL), moulting stage and the level of patent infection (via BCM and PM; see section on pleopod examination) (Field, 1992).