Bacteria associated with winter mortalities in laboratory-reared common dentex (Dentex dentex L.)

Abstract

A pathological study was conducted on laboratory-reared juvenile common dentex (Dentex dentex) suffering trickling and continuous mortalities. During a 3-month period (October–December), water temperature, clinical signs and mortalities were recorded. Moribund or dead fish were examined for bacteria and parasites. Bacteria were isolated from head kidney and external ulcers, and samples from the gills, intestine, stomach, trunk kidney, gall bladder and liver were taken for histology. Cumulative mortality reached 73%, and 80% of fish examined were positive for bacteria (102 isolates). Vibrio splendidus was the most prevalent in head kidney (59.7%) and ulcers (88.9%), and it was frequently isolated as pure culture (74.7% and 100% respectively). This is the first report of this bacterium in association with mortality in common dentex. Vibrio scophthalmi was the second most prevalent bacterium (29.2%) and accounted for 63.6% of the mixed infections with V. splendidus, V. harveyi, Pseudoalteromonas spp. and other species were rarely isolated. No parasites were found in histological sections. Bacteria were frequently observed in the lumen of the intestine and stomach, destroying the epithelium. A cellular reaction was suggested by the high numbers of rodlet cells (RC) in the intestinal epithelium, and the abundance of eosinophilic granular cells (EGC) in the intestinal lamina propria. In the stomach, vacuolized cells containing unidentified debris, sometimes of crystalloid appearance, were very common. The high prevalence of V. splendidus in pure cultures and the absence of other aetiological agents suggest that V. splendidus is substantially involved in the registered mortalities, although the implication of V. scophthalmi and even of some nutritional factors cannot be discounted.