Histopathological and bacteriological study of white spot syndrome of Penaeus monodon along the west coast of India

White spot syndrome (WSS) is a serious viral disease of shrimp causing severe mortalities in several parts of Asia. This paper describes the histopathology of the syndrome which occurred on the west coast of India. The affected shrimp showed white spots on the carapace and post abdominal segments and histopathologically, hypertrophied nuclei with eosinophilic to basophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies were detected in the epithelial cells of the stomach. Moderate to heavy septicaemia was noticed in moribund shrimp. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.