Survey of bacterial pathologies affecting farmed gilt-head sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) in southwestern Spain from 1990 to 1996

Abstract A bacteriological survey in three fish farms with intensive culture of gilt-head sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) was conducted in southwestern Spain (provinces of Cadiz, Malaga, and Huelva) from 1990 to 1996. All the disease problems occurring during this period in the S. aurata were investigated, focusing on the isolation, characterization, antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity of the bacterial isolates affecting the fish. The main pathogenic microorganisms isolated were Vibrio (67.8%), Pseudomonas (13.5%), Photobacterium damsela subsp. piscicida (6.7%), Cytophaga/Flexibacter-like bacteria (4.8%), Aeromonas (0.5%), and Gram positive bacteria (6.7%). Although the highest percentages of isolates corresponded to Vibrio and Pseudomonas spp., the strains of P. damsela subsp. piscicida and Cytophaga/Flexibacter-like bacteria caused epizootics with highest degree of mortalities. From the present study, on the basis of the pathogenicity test, we suggest the consideration of V. anguillarum, V. alginolyticus, V. harveyi and V. splendidus as primary pathogenic species for gilt-head sea bream.

[1]  J. Orós,et al.  Aeromonas salmonicida infection in Sparus aurata in the Canaries , 1994 .

[2]  J. Buswell,et al.  An investigation into the bacterial aetiology of 'black patch necrosis' in Dover sole, Solea solea L. , 1982 .

[3]  R. E. Buchanan,et al.  Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology. , 1975 .

[4]  J. Jofre,et al.  Identification and Typing of Vibrio anguillarum: A Comparison of Different Methods , 1995 .

[5]  Masao Kimura,et al.  Studies of a bacterial tuberculoidosis of the yellowtail-I Symptomatolgy and histopathology , 1970 .

[6]  R. Colwell,et al.  Numerical classification of species of Vibrio and related genera. , 1986, The Journal of applied bacteriology.

[7]  J. Groff,et al.  Isolation and Characterization of Flexibacter maritimus from Marine Fishes of California , 1995 .

[8]  A. Colorni,et al.  Bacterial infections in gilt-head sea bream Sparus aurata cultured at Elat , 1981 .

[9]  G. Barnabé,et al.  L'Aquaculture du bar et des Sparidés , 1984 .

[10]  R. Colwell,et al.  Haemagglutinating, haemolytic and cytotoxic activities of Vibrio anguillarum and related vibrios isolated from striped bass on the Atlantic Coast , 1983 .

[11]  G. Holt,et al.  The occurrence of vibrio disease in wild Norwegian fish , 1972 .

[12]  A. Ellis.  Fish and shellfish pathology , 1985 .

[13]  Peter H. A. Sneath,et al.  Numerical Taxonomy: The Principles and Practice of Numerical Classification , 1973 .

[14]  D. Pass,et al.  Investigations into the causes of mortality of the pearl oyster, Pinctada maxima (Jamson), in Western Australia , 1987 .

[15]  A. Barry.  Susceptibility tests : diffusion test procedure , 1985 .

[16]  James T. Staley,et al.  Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology , 1939 .

[17]  W. Maas,et al.  Naturally occurring plasmid carrying genes for enterotoxin production and drug resistance. , 1977, Science.

[18]  J. Buswell,et al.  Flexibacter maritimus is the agent of 'black patch necrosis' in Dover sole in Scotland. , 1990 .

[19]  A. Colorni,et al.  Diseases of Sparus aurata in marine culture at Elat , 1977 .

[20]  F. Ubeira,et al.  Trials for the control of ichthyophthiriosis in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) , 1994 .

[21]  P H Sneath,et al.  The influence on numerical taxonomic similarities of errors in microbiological tests. , 1972, Journal of general microbiology.

[22]  A. E. Toranzo,et al.  Specificity of slide agglutination test for detecting bacterial fish pathogens , 1987 .

[23]  T. Håstein,et al.  Utilization of antibacterial drugs in salmonid farming in Norway during 1980–1988 , 1990 .

[24]  B. Austin,et al.  Methods for the Microbiological Examination of Fish and Shellfish , 1989 .

[25]  L. D. Peña,et al.  Studies on the chemical control of luminous bacteria Vibrio harveyi and V. splendidus isolated from diseased Penaeus monodon larvae and rearing water , 1990 .

[26]  J. L. Larsen,et al.  Agglutination Typing of Vibrio anguillarum Isolates from Diseased Fish and from the Environment , 1984, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[27]  K. Myhre,et al.  Copper as an initiating factor of vibriosis (Vibrio anguillarum) in eel (Anguilla anguilla) , 1977 .

[28]  A. Guarino,et al.  Fish pasteurellosis of cultured striped bass (Morone saxatilis) in coastal Alabama , 1987 .

[29]  Alicia E. Toranzo,et al.  Pasteurellosis in cultured gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata): first report in Spain. , 1991 .

[30]  L. Reed,et al.  A SIMPLE METHOD OF ESTIMATING FIFTY PER CENT ENDPOINTS , 1938 .

[31]  B. Austin,et al.  Bacterial fish pathogens: disease in farmed and wild fish. , 1999 .

[32]  R. Colwell,et al.  Numerical taxonomy of nitrogen fixing decarboxylase negative vibrio species isolated from aquatic environments , 1985 .

[33]  H. Wakabayashi,et al.  Flexibacter maritimus sp. nov., a Pathogen of Marine Fishes , 1986 .

[34]  B. Munday,et al.  Chemotherapy of Cytophaga/Flexibacter-like bacteria (CFLB) infections in fish: studies validating clinical efficacies of selected antimicrobials. , 1995 .

[35]  J. Bernardet,et al.  Phenotypic and genomic studies of "Cytophaga psychrophila" isolated from diseased rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in France , 1989, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[36]  J. L. Larsen,et al.  Serotyping of Vibrio anguillarum , 1986, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[37]  G. Bullock,et al.  PASTEURELLA SP. FROM AN EPIZOOTIC OF WHITE PERCH (ROCCUS AMERICANUS) IN CHESAPEAKE BAY TIDEWATER AREAS , 1964, Journal of bacteriology.

[38]  T. Aoki,et al.  Drug resistance of Vibrio anguillarum isolated from Ayu between 1989 and 1991 , 1992 .

[39]  T. P. Nieto,et al.  Comparison between the bacterial flora associated with fingerling rainbow trout cultured in two different hatcheries in the North-West of Spain , 1984 .

[40]  R. Colwell,et al.  Numerical Taxonomy of Vibrios Isolated from Estuarine Environments , 1983 .

[41]  B. Austin,et al.  A review: Bacterial pathogens of fish , 1985 .

[42]  J. Romalde,et al.  Health status of two salmonid aquaculture facilities in North Portugal: characterization of the bacterial and viral pathogens causing notifiable diseases , 1996 .

[43]  M. Kent,et al.  Cytophaga sp. (Cytophagales) infection in seawater pen-reared Atlantic salmon Salmo salar , 1988 .

[44]  J. Lamas,et al.  Susceptibility of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch, and rainbow trout of. my kiss) to strains of Vibrio anguillarum and their exotoxins , 1991 .

[45]  A. Salyers,et al.  Bacterial resistance to tetracycline: mechanisms, transfer, and clinical significance , 1992, Clinical Microbiology Reviews.

[46]  Henry D. Isenberg,et al.  Manual of Clinical Microbiology , 1991 .

[47]  F. Rohlf,et al.  NTSYS-pc Numerical Taxonomy and Multivariate Analysis System, version 2.1: Owner manual , 1992 .

[48]  T. P. Nieto,et al.  Virulence properties and enterotoxin production of Aeromonas strains isolated from fish , 1988, Infection and immunity.

[49]  J. Romalde,et al.  First occurrence of pasteurellosis in Portugal affecting cultured gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata [Pagrus aurata]). , 1996 .