Aeromonas hydrophila, one reason causing the death of freshwater crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852)

Procambarus clarkii crayfish has been developed as an excellent animal model to study the characteristics and pathogenesis of white spot syndrome virus and the host defense mechanisms of crustacean. However, due to pathogen infections of crayfish in Chinese farms, research based on this model has been slowed down. Using triplex polymerase chain reaction, we found the virulence Aeromonas hydrophila was one reason that caused the death of crayfish. The isolated AH3 produced 100% mortalities with 324h after inoculation of 1 ×106 colonyforming units of live cells per crayfish at 20 ˚C.