Linu Eldho

Bivalvia also known as Pelecypoda is the second largest class in the phylum Mollusca. Most commonly known, commercially important bivalves such as oysters, clams, scallops, mussels, cockles etc. belong to Autobranchia subclass of Bivalvia. India had contributed 8.61% to the worldwide aquaculture production in the year 2018, out of this, 3945 million tonnes is comprised of edible bivalves. Natural disasters, pollution and industrial effluents had contributed much to the decrease in aquaculture production sometimes even leading to total extinction of freshwater molluscan fauna. Since the importance of Bivalve culture has been increasingly recognized globally a well-designed surveillance system comprising of base-line data on known pathogens can offer a platform for early detection of outbreaks and diagnosis of diseases faster. Current work is an attempt to design such a system that can be useful for increasing molluscan culture in Kerala.