Microsporidia are fungal parasites that infect diverse invertebrate and vertebrate hosts. Finfish aquaculture supports epizootics due to high host density and the high biotic potential of these parasites. Reliable methods for parasite detection and identification are a necessary precursor to empirical assessment of strategies to mitigate the effects of these pathogens during aquaculture. We developed an integrative approach to detect and identify Loma morhua infecting Atlantic cod. We show that the spleen is more reliable than the commonly presumed gills as best organ for parasite detection in spite of substantial morphological plasticity in xenoma complexes. We developed rDNA primers with 100% sensitivity in detecting L. morhua and with utility in distinguishing some congeneric Loma species. ITS sequencing is necessary to distinguish L. morhua from other congeneric microsporidia due to intraspecific nucleotide variation. 64% of L. morhua ITS variants from Atlantic cod have a 9-nucleotide motif that distinguishes it from Loma spp. infecting non-Gadus hosts. The remaining 36% of ITS variants from Atlantic cod are distinguished from currently represented Loma spp., particularly those infecting Gadus hosts, based on a 14-nucleotide motif. This research approach is amenable to developing templates in support of reliable detection and identification of other microsporidian parasites in fishes.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12339 | DOI Listing |
Mar Environ Res
January 2025
National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua), Technical University of Denmark, Silkeborg, Denmark.
In the North Sea, offshore oil and gas (O&G) platforms must be totally removed through decommissioning at the end of their productive life. However, the role of O&G platforms in marine ecosystems, especially for fish assemblages, is not well enough defined yet. Here, we document the association between an O&G platform in the North Sea and the fish assemblages along a distance gradient of 1-600 m from the platform.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Fish Biol
January 2025
Polar branch of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography ("PINRO" named after N.M. Knipovich), Murmansk, Russia.
More than 27,000 stomachs from 70 species of fish were collected from the Barents Sea in 2015. Quantitative stomach content expressed relative to the body weight of the predator fish (g g as %) varied by four to five orders of magnitude for six species with the largest sample size (Atlantic cod Gadus morhua, haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus, Greenland halibut Reinhardtius hippoglossoides, long rough dab Hippoglossoides platessoides, polar cod Boreogadus saida, and Atlantic capelin Mallotus villosus). The quantitative stomach contents of individual fish followed a common and strict statistical relationship for predator species or groups of species (by families), and for prey categories across predator species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Total Environ
January 2025
Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway.
Increased industrial offshore activities in northern waters raise the question of impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on key Arctic marine species. One of these is the ecologically important polar cod (Boreogadus saida), which is the primary food source for Arctic marine mammals and seabirds. In the present work, we have conducted the first comprehensive proteomics study with this species by exploring the effects of dietary PAH exposure on the hepatic proteome, using benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) as a PAH model-compound.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFR Soc Open Sci
January 2025
Institute of Marine Research (IMR), PO Box 1870, Bergen N-5817, Norway.
When haemoglobin genotyping was implemented in the early 1960s to investigate population genetic structure in Atlantic cod (), it became one of the first molecular genetic markers deployed in fisheries research worldwide. However, its suitability was questioned due to its potential for selection. While the issue of neutrality concerned the first population geneticists, markers under selection are now routinely used to study population genetic structure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Fish Dis
December 2024
Department of Fish Health and Biosecurity, Norwegian Veterinary Institute, Oslo, Norway.
Atlantic cod farming experiences renewed growth in Norway, and increased awareness is essential to address emerging diseases in this species. There are few reports on gill diseases in cod, and to date, no viral gill infections of cod have been documented. In this study, we collected samples from three sequential time points in summer 2023 from farmed cod suffering from cardiorespiratory disease.
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