Parasitic crustaceans as a potential vector of MDR Vibrio alginolyticus infection among farmed marine fish in some earthen-pond based Egyptian aquaculture facilities: Molecular, epidemiological and pathological evidences.

Parasitic crustaceans affecting cultured marine fish in earthen-pond aquaculture facilities are nasty parasites that trigger cascades of microbial infections with consequent economic losses. In the current study, the role of some parasitic crustaceans in spread and transmission of bacterial infections among cultured marine fishes was investigated utilizing taxonomical, molecular, epidemiological, and pathological assays. A total of 400 marine fish involving Pomadasys stridens, Dicentrarchus labra, Sparus aurata, and Tilapia zilli have been randomly collected from some private earthen pond-based aquaculture facilities.