ABSTRACT
The contribution resides in being able to resolve and discern the primary causative factor in a given situation. Administrators, the public, and even fellow scientists, not involved, are not very sympathetic at these times because they all want a quick and easy answer. Unfortunately, there are usually few quick and easy answers. In order to discuss these possibilities one needs to examine, conceptually, a frame-work of principles and theory of how marine disease studies now may be approached, and the expectations for these approaches. As an extension of dealing with many different invertebrate and vertebrate species, the innate complexity of many different potential responses of these diverse species to disease-causing factors, further challenges the investigator. The real value of understanding the complexities of pathogenesis caused by various agents in diverse organisms is the ability to identify those stages in pathogenesis that may be useful as valid intermediate endpoints,biomarkers, indicators, or sentinel markers of exposure and risks of/to agents in environment.
