Monogeneans (Platyhelminthes) are common ectoparasitic flatworms of fish, infecting the body surfaces such as the skin, fins and gills. Monogeneans have a short direct life-cycle with no intermediate hosts, which facilitates their rapid propagation i...
Monogeneans (Platyhelminthes) are common ectoparasitic flatworms of fish, infecting the body surfaces such as the skin, fins and gills. Monogeneans have a short direct life-cycle with no intermediate hosts, which facilitates their rapid propagation in aquaculture environments. The infected host fish show anemia and dyspnea with considerable mortality, but may remain in a state of chronic infections.
In Korea, Microcotyle sebastis is a well-known gill parasite of cultured Korean rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli), causing economic loss. Sebastid fish, including Korean rockfish are considered economically valuable species in Korea for commercial fisheries. In addition to Korean rockfish, artificial propagation of several sebastid species juveniles is also established, and they are considered potential candidates for aquaculture. But, there is no information on the gill monogenean fauna of these sebastid species, and they can be a potential threat to the sebastid fish aquaculture industry. In this study, of 682 sebastid fish (S. schlegeli, Sebastes inermis, Sebastes thompsoni, Sebastes taczanowskii, Sebastes steindachneri, Sebastes owstoni, Sebastes pachycephalus, Sebastiscus marmoratus and Sebastiscus tertius) examined, 243 fish were infected with monogeneans in their gills. The number of monogeneans collected were 1,501 in total. 5 species of monogeneans including M. sebastis were found in 7 sebastid fish species; Microcotyle caudata (of S. inermis) and Microcotyle kasago (of S. marmoratus) are previously reported from Japan. Two different Microcotyle species were also found from two Sebastid fish (S. thompsoni, S. taczanowskii), which have not been described elsewhere up to date. They were identified based on the morphology of the genital atrium and mtDNA cox1 gene sequences and these criteria are considered as useful tools for unambiguous species identification of microcotylid monogenean.
Mitogenome sequencing was performed with 3 Microcotyle species (M. caudata, M. kasago, and Microcotyle sp. of S. taczanowskii). As a result, the specific gene order and codon usage of the genus Microcotyle were found in the 3 mitogenomes. In addition, the phylogenetic analysis using mitogenome clearly showed the taxonomic level of the genus Microcotyle in the class monogenea. Thus, mitogenome is a useful genetic marker for molecular identification of genus Microcotyle.
PCR-RFLP targeting mitochondrial cox1 gene, was designed for discriminating M. sebastis and M. caudata. The AseI enzyme treatment with the PCR products showed that M. sebastis were cleavaged while M. caudata did not. 98.6% (1,004/1,018) of monogeneans from S. schlegeli were identified as M. sebastis, and 98.4% (316/321) of monogeneans from S. inermis were identified as M. caudata by PCR-RFLP. Whereas, 5 monogeneans from S. schlegeli were identified as M. caudata (5/1,018), and 5 monogeneans from S. inermis were identified as M. sebastis (5/321). These 10 monogeneans were identified as M. caudata and M. sebastis also by ITS region-based PCR-RFLP. The PCR-RFLP method in this study will help investigate the differential diagnosis and epidemiology of Microcotyle species in two sebastid fish.
The temperature strongly influenced on fertility and viability of M. caudata and M. sebastis. The average amount of oviposition of M. caudata after 48 hours incubation were 36.5±0.9 per individual at 10℃, 45.3±8.2 at 15℃, 30.3±2.9 at 20℃, 16.4±1.6 at 25℃. And those of M. sebastis were 31.8±1.5 at 10℃, 46.5±8.3 at 15℃, 57.9±6.4 at 20℃, and 26.5±2.2 at 25℃. M. caudata showed the highest fertility at 15℃, whereas M. sebastis showed the highest fertility at 20℃. In addition, the average survival period of M. caudata showed 7.4±0.4 days at 10℃, 4.4±0.1 days at 15℃, 3.5±0.4 days at 20℃, and 1.8±0.1 days at 25℃. M. sebastis showed 11.4±2.2 days at 10℃, 7.0±0.3 days at 15℃, 4.3±0.8 days at 20℃, and 3.4±0.3 days at 25℃. The average time required to hatch eggs decreased as the temperature increased. The highest egg hatching rate was observed at 15℃ for M. caudata and 20℃ for M. sebastis. Meanwhile, M. sebastis and M. caudata appeared to different distribution patterns within the gills cavity of each host species. There are intensively distributed on the second gill arch, M. caudata was mainly distributed in the dorsal segment and M. sebastis was mainly distributed in the medial segment.
The efficacy of various anti-helminthic agents and disinfectants were evaluated in vitro against adults and eggs of the M. sebastis and M. caudata, respectively. Praziquantel (PZQ), ivermectin (IVM), trichlorfon (TCF), fenbendazole (FNBZ), febantel (FBT), flubendazol (FLBZ) and thiabendazole (TBZ), formalin, H2O2, NaClO were selected as test chemicals. The hatching rate of M. sebastis and M. caudata eggs was significantly reduced when compared with the control group (seawater; M. sebastis = 86.7%±0.5, M. caudata = 83.0%±0.5) by at least 33.3% in formalin (200, 300 mg/L), H2O2 (50-200 mg/L), and NaClO (75-200 mg/L) treatment. However, 7 anti-helminthic agents, including PZQ, did not effectively inhibit hatching of eggs. In addition, 50-200 mg/L NaClO treatment significantly killed M. sebastis and M. caudata adults when compared with the control group. IVM 200 mg/L for 30 min treatment showed 100% killing activity of M. sebastis adults and 80% of M. caudata adults. However, PZQ, TCF, FNBZ, FBT, FLBZ and TBZ treatment showed less than 33% mortalities. PZQ 200 mg/L for 30 min treatment showed 99.2% detachment of M. sebastis attached to the gills, and 100% detachment of M. caudata at the same PZQ conditions. IVM 200 mg/L detachment or killed more than 83% of M. sebastis and M. caudata attached to the gills. However, all the other chemicals showed weak effect. This result shows that PZQ and IVM immersion treatments are effective to control M. sebastis and M. caudata in sebastid species aquaculture, and formalin, H2O2 and NaClO are effective against eggs.
In this study, the microcotylid monogenean diversity of sebastid fish in Korea and their taxonomic status were investigated. In addition, information on physiological characteristics and control strategies of M. caudata and M. sebastis were provided. In Korea, S. schlegeli is cultured in a large scale and other sebastid fish (S. inermis, S. thompsoni and S. marmoratus) are also propagated in a small scale. These fish species are promising candidate aquaculture species but their production can be affected by harmful microcotylid monogenean infection. The results presented in this study provide comprehensive information on potential microcotylid monogenean infection in Korea.