ABSTRACT
Twenty-five years have elapsed since John Couch described Baculovirus penaei, the first recognized virus of penaeid shrimp, in Penaeus duorarum (northern pink shrimp) from the Gulf of Mexico in Florida (Couch 1974). Since then the list of viruses infecting this group of marine invertebrate ani mals has grown to include nearly 20 viruses (see Table 3.1), and viruses have emerged as important pathogens of penaeid shrimp virtually every where in the world where penaeid shrimp are cultured (Lightner 1996a). Currently, nine viruses (or groups of closely related viruses) are known to be enzootic in Western Hemisphere penaeids, and five of these pathogens have emerged as serious pathogens in one or more species of cultured shrimp (see Table 3.2). Virus diseases have also severely impacted the shrimp-farming industries of the Eastern Hemisphere. In the shrimp-growing regions of the Indo-Pacific and East Asia at least 12 viruses (or groups of closely related viruses) are recognized. Of the 12 virus groups, five have been documented
Funding for this research was provided by the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Consortium Marine Shrimp Farming Program, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), USDA under Grant No. 88-38808-3320, the National Sea Grant Program, USDC under Grant No. NA56RG0617, and a special grant from the National Fishery Institute. Also thankfully acknowledged are my colleagues and students who have contributed to this review in immeasurable ways. They are: J. R. Bonami, R. M. Redman, B. T. Poulos, K. F. J Tang, L. M. Nunan, J. L. Mari, C. R. Pantoja, Q. Wang, J. L. Zhou, S. Durand, K. W. Hasson, L. L. Mohney, and B. L. White.
