Objective: Cutaneous ulcerative skin lesions in a complex of invasive Gulf of Mexico lionfish (Red Lionfish Pterois volitans, Devil Firefish P. miles, and the hybrid Red Lionfish × Devil Firefish) became epizootic beginning in mid-August 2017. Herein, we provide the first pathological descriptions of these lesions and summarize our analyses to elucidate the etiology of the disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is an emergent and often lethal coral disease that was first reported near Miami, FL (USA) in 2014. Our objective was to determine if coral colonies showing signs of SCTLD possess a specific microbial signature across five susceptible species sampled in Florida's Coral Reef. Three sample types were collected: lesion tissue and apparently unaffected tissue of diseased colonies, and tissue of apparently healthy colonies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHarmful algal blooms (HABs) are diverse phenomena involving multiple. species and classes of algae that occupy a broad range of habitats from lakes to oceans and produce a multiplicity of toxins or bioactive compounds that impact many different resources. Here, a review of the status of this complex array of marine HAB problems in the U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the summer of 2010, a sustained multispecies fish kill, affecting primarily adult red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) and Atlantic stingray (Dasyatis sabina), along with various baitfish such as menhaden (Brevoortia spp.) and shad (Dorosoma spp.), was documented for six weeks along 50 km of the Lower St.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFData on Karenia brevis red tides (≥105 cells l-1) and on dead or debilitated (i.e. stranded) Kemp's ridleys Lepidochelys kempii, loggerheads Caretta caretta, green turtles Chelonia mydas, hawksbills Eretmochelys imbricata, and leatherbacks Dermochelys coriacea documented in Florida during 1986-2013 were evaluated to assess red tides as a sea turtle mortality factor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRedfin needlefish Strongylura notata from Florida coastal waters were observed with unusual neoplastic lesions. Affected specimens were collected from 1 Atlantic estuary (Indian River Lagoon, prevalence = 0.32%, n = 5314) and 2 Gulf of Mexico estuaries (Tampa Bay, prevalence = 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoelomic fluid aspiration has been utilized in echinoderms in research and clinical settings. Detailed procedural descriptions for coelomic fluid sampling in sea urchins (class Echinoidea) are lacking, and samples are prone to contamination. The objectives of this study were to (1) standardize a technique for coelomic fluid collection in long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum that optimizes the diagnostic quality of the sample utilizing diagnostic imaging, (2) identify coelomic fluid bacterial isolates (using Biolog GEN III MicroLog and 16s rDNA sequencing), and (3) compare positive cultures to animal weight, holding time prior to sampling, water temperature, and gross fluid appearance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe describe a die-off of little brown bats ( Myotis lucifugus carissima) associated with acute intoxication with microcystin-LR in 2016 at Scofield Reservoir in Utah, US. High levels of this cyanotoxin in water from the reservoir and gastrointestinal content of bats supported this diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAs part of a state-wide multispecies survey of amphibian diseases, sampling was conducted at Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida, USA, on 15 April 2011. Gross examination of southern toad (Anaxyrus terrestris) larvae was unremarkable, but infections by a mesomycetozoean-like organism were observed in longitudinally sectioned routine haematoxylin and eosin-stained histologic slides. In 100% of the sectioned specimens examined (n = 5), a high density of the organism, representing several developmental stages, was found in the central nervous system, mainly in the spinal cord, brain, retina and optic nerve.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn October 2009, during a Karenia brevis red tide along the Texas coast, millions of dead fish washed ashore along the 113-km length of Padre Island National Seashore (PAIS). Between November 2009 and January 2010, at least 12 coyotes (Canis latrans) and three domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) died or were euthanized at PAIS or local veterinary clinics because of illness suspected to be related to the red tide. Another red tide event occurred during autumn 2011 and, although fewer dead fish were observed relative to the 2009 event, coyotes again were affected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae) are ubiquitous in aquatic environments. Some species produce potent toxins that can sicken or kill people, domestic animals, and wildlife. Dogs are particularly vulnerable to cyanotoxin poisoning because of their tendency to swim in and drink contaminated water during algal blooms or to ingestalgal mats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA multispecies amphibian larval mortality event, primarily affecting American bullfrogs Lithobates catesbeianus, was investigated during April 2011 at the Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park, Clay County, Florida, USA. Freshly dead and moribund tadpoles had hemorrhagic lesions around the vent and on the ventral body surface, with some exhibiting a swollen abdomen. Bullfrogs (100%), southern leopard frogs L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn 2005 and 2006, the central west Florida coast experienced two intense Karenia brevis red tide events lasting from February 2005 through December 2005 and August 2006 through December 2006. Strandings of sea turtles were increased in the study area with 318 turtles (n = 174, 2005; n = 144, 2006) stranding between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2006 compared to the 12-yr average of 43 +/- 23 turtles. Live turtles (n = 61) admitted for rehabilitation showed clinical signs including unresponsiveness, paresis, and circling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHarmful algal bloom events caused by the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis occurred along the central west Florida, USA, coast from February 2005 through December 2005 and from August 2006 through December 2006. During these events, from 4 February 2005 through 28 November 2006, live, debilitated seabirds admitted for rehabilitation showed clinical signs that included disorientation, inability to stand, ataxia, and seizures. Testing of blood, biologic fluids, and tissues for brevetoxin by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay found toxin present in 69% (n=95) of rehabilitating seabirds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the Florida Panhandle region, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) have been highly susceptible to large-scale unusual mortality events (UMEs) that may have been the result of exposure to blooms of the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis and its neurotoxin, brevetoxin (PbTx). Between 1999 and 2006, three bottlenose dolphin UMEs occurred in the Florida Panhandle region. The primary objective of this study was to determine if these mortality events were due to brevetoxicosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo specimens of the Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus captured by lobster fishers offshore of southeast Florida, USA, between late 2007 and early 2008 had completely white abdominal muscle tissue with a 'cooked' appearance. Wet-mount examination of the skeletal muscle tissue revealed masses of microsporidian spores. Histopathology of longitudinally sectioned skeletal muscle showed that the microsporidian spores displaced much of the muscle mass, but were interspersed with small empty vacuoles (approximately 5 microm in diameter) found adjacent to necrotic skeletal muscle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParalytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), due to saxitoxin and related compounds, typically results from the consumption of filter-feeding molluscan shellfish that concentrate toxins from marine dinoflagellates. In addition to these microalgal sources, saxitoxin and related compounds, referred to in this review as STXs, are also produced in freshwater cyanobacteria and have been associated with calcareous red macroalgae. STXs are transferred and bioaccumulate throughout aquatic food webs, and can be vectored to terrestrial biota, including humans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBased on isolations from naturally infected fish in Florida, we investigated the role of the fungi Aphanomyces invadans, Achlya bisexualis, and Phialemonium dimorphosporum in the etiology of ulcerative mycosis (UM) in striped mullet Mugil cephalus. We injected healthy striped mullet subcutaneously with secondary zoospores of four oomycete isolates: two concentrations (50 and 115 zoospores/mL) of SJR (an endemic isolate of Aphanomyces invadans in American shad Alosa sapidissima from the St. Johns River); two concentrations each of CAL (25 and 65 zoospores/mL) and ACH (1,400 and 2,000 zoospores/mL; endemic isolates of Aphanomyces invadans and Achlyva bisexualis, respectively, in striped mullet from the Caloosahatchee River); and two concentrations of the ascomycete culture MTZ (2,500 and 3,500 zoospores/mL; endemic isolate of P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the spring of 1998, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute received numerous reports of lesioned or ulcerated fish primarily from the St. Lucie Estuary on the southeast coast of Florida, an area known since the late 1970s for lesions of the ulcerative mycosis (UM) type. From these and archived reports, as well as others received from different areas of Florida, we documented that diseased specimens had randomly distributed skin ulcers (usually reddened or hemorrhagic) with raised irregular margins and, in some cases, deeply penetrating hyphae in the surrounding muscle tissue.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrevetoxins and ciguatoxins are closely related potent marine neurotoxins. Although ciguatoxins accumulate in fish to levels that are dangerous for human consumption, live fish have not been considered as potential sources of brevetoxin exposure in humans. Here we show that, analogous to ciguatoxins, brevetoxins can accumulate in live fish by dietary transfer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: From January 2002 to May 2004, 28 puffer fish poisoning (PFP) cases in Florida, New Jersey, Virginia, and New York were linked to the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) in Florida. Saxitoxins (STXs) of unknown source were first identified in fillet remnants from a New Jersey PFP case in 2002.
Methods: We used the standard mouse bioassay (MBA), receptor binding assay (RBA), mouse neuroblastoma cytotoxicity assay (MNCA), Ridascreen ELISA, MIST Alert assay, HPLC, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to determine the presence of STX, decarbamoyl STX (dc-STX), and N-sulfocarbamoyl (B1) toxin in puffer fish tissues, clonal cultures, and natural bloom samples of Pyrodinium bahamense from the IRL.
Beginning in October 2000, subadult loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta showing clinical signs of a neurological disorder were found in waters off south Florida, USA. Histopathology indicated generalized and neurologic spirorchiidiasis. In loggerhead sea turtles (LST) with neurospirorchiidiasis, adult trematodes were found in the meninges of the brain and spinal cord of 7 and 3 affected turtles respectively, and multiple encephalic intravascular or perivascular eggs were associated with granulomatous or mixed leukocytic inflammation, vasculitis, edema, axonal degeneration and occasional necrosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppl Environ Microbiol
February 2006
The pathogenic oomycete Aphanomyces invadans is the primary etiological agent in ulcerative mycosis, an ulcerative skin disease caused by a fungus-like agent of wild and cultured fish. We developed sensitive PCR and fluorescent peptide nucleic acid in situ hybridization (FISH) assays to detect A. invadans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPotent marine neurotoxins known as brevetoxins are produced by the 'red tide' dinoflagellate Karenia brevis. They kill large numbers of fish and cause illness in humans who ingest toxic filter-feeding shellfish or inhale toxic aerosols. The toxins are also suspected of having been involved in events in which many manatees and dolphins died, but this has usually not been verified owing to limited confirmation of toxin exposure, unexplained intoxication mechanisms and complicating pathologies.
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