Abstract
Scuticociliatosis, caused by an opportunistic ciliate protozoan, is responsible for significant economic losses in marine ornamental fish. This study reports the occurrence of Uronema spp., parasitizing ten species of marine reef fish at an ornamental fish wholesaler: Blue green damselfish (Chromis viridis), Vanderbilt's Chromis (Chromis vanderbilti), Pennant coralfish (Heniochus acuminatus), Threespot angelfish (Apolemichthys trimaculatus), Goldspotted angelfish (Apolemichthys xanthopunctatus), Sea goldie (Pseudanthias squamipinnis), Orchid dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani), Threadfin butterflyfish (Chaetodon auriga), Vagabond butterflyfish (Chaetodon vagabundus), and Bluecheek butterflyfish (Chaetodon semilarvatus). Diseased fish showed disorders such as hemorrhages and ulcerative lesions on the body surface. Histopathological analysis of the muscle, liver, gut, kidney, spleen, gills, and stomach revealed hemorrhages and degeneration of muscle fiber, vacuolar degeneration of hepatocyte, inflammatory process and granuloma in the liver, atrophy of intestinal villi, inflammatory process and granuloma in the kidney, melanomacrophage centers, as well as inflammatory process in the spleen, epithelial cells hyperplasia and granuloma formation in the gills, and vacuolar degeneration and eosinophils in the stomach. Due to the severity of the disease, it is necessary to implement biosecurity measures with rapid and accurate diagnosis to minimize the risk of economic losses caused by Uronema spp.
Highlights
Scuticociliatosis, a severe disease that compromises marine ornamental fish, is caused by marine ciliates of the subclass Scuticociliatia
This study reports the occurrence of scuticociliatosis followed by acute infection in ten different ornamental marine reef fish species: Blue green damselfish (Chromis viridis), Vanderbilt’s Chromis (Chromis vanderbilti), Pennant coralfish (Heniochus acuminatus), Threespot angelfish (Apolemichthys trimaculatus), Goldspotted angelfish (Apolemichthys xanthopunctatus), Sea goldie (Pseudanthias squamipinnis), Orchid dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani), Threadfin butterflyfish (Chaetodon auriga), Vagabond butterflyfish (Chaetodon vagabundus), and Bluecheek butterflyfish (Chaetodon semilarvatus), and the lesion caused by the parasite in the histopathologic analyses in Blue green damselfish, Sea goldie, Orchid dottyback, and Goldspotted angelfish
In a study by Cheung et al (1980), were described the fish species and sites of infection caused by Uronema in Pimelometopon pulchrum, Tautogolabrus adspersus, Hippocampus erectus, H. kuda, Hypsypops rubicunda, Chaetodon unimaculatus, C. auriga, Chelmon rostratus, and Heniochus acuminatus
Summary
Scuticociliatosis, a severe disease that compromises marine ornamental fish, is caused by marine ciliates of the subclass Scuticociliatia. Infected fish may present with internal changes that could be observed on histopathological examination, such as brain liquefaction, hemorrhages, and muscle ulceration. Microscopic observation shows the parasites feeding mostly on the cell tissue of the gills and muscles ulceration (Iglesias et al, 2001; Azad et al, 2007; Rossteuscher et al, 2008; Jin et al, 2009; Moustafa et al, 2010a, b). Microscopic observation shows the parasites feeding mostly on the cell tissue of the gills and muscles (Iglesias et al, 2001; Jin et al, 2009; Piazzon et al, 2014; Rossteuscher et al, 2008)
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