Hematodinium perezi is a dinoflagellate endoparasitic in marine crustaceans, primarily decapods. It occurs in juvenile blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus, at high prevalence levels and has severe pathogenic effects in this host. The life history outside the host has not been experimentally investigated and, until now, transmission using dinospores has not been successful. We investigated the natural transmission dynamics of H. perezi in the laboratory using small juvenile crabs, which are highly susceptible to infection in the field, and elevated temperatures, which are known to stimulate dinospore production. Natural water-borne transmission to naïve crabs varied between 7 and 100% and was not correlated with dinospore densities measured from their aquaria water. Infections appeared to develop quickly in naïve hosts at 25 °C, suggesting that elevated temperatures as seen in the late summer and early autumn have a strong influence on the transmission of H. perezi in natural systems.

Hematodinium perezi是海洋甲壳类动物（主要是十足类动物）中的甲藻内寄生虫。它以高流行率发生在幼年蓝蟹Callinectes sapidus中，并在该宿主中具有严重的致病作用。宿主外的生活史尚未经过实验研究，直到现在，使用恐龙孢子的传播还没有成功。我们调查了H. perezi的自然传播动力学在实验室中，使用在野外极易感染的小螃蟹和已知会刺激恐龙孢子产生的高温。自然水传播到幼稚蟹的传播率在 7% 到 100% 之间变化，并且与从它们的水族馆水中测得的恐龙孢子密度无关。在 25 °C 时，感染似乎在幼稚宿主中迅速发展，这表明夏末和初秋所见的高温对H. perezi在自然系统中的传播具有强烈影响。