VIMS

Lobster Disease

Healthy Lobster. © J. Shields/VIMS. Diseased Lobster

Images of a healthy (L) and diseased (R) lobster show how epizootic shell disease can lead to pitting, erosion, and "melanization" or darkening of the crustacean's carapace. Survival of moderately and severely diseased lobsters—those with disease on more than 10% of their cuticle—is only 30% that of healthy animals. Photos courtesy of professor Jeff Shields of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Learn more about VIMS research concerning this disease.