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Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

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DAO 122:35-41 (2016)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03063

First report of Perkinsus honshuensis in the variegated carpet shell clam Ruditapes variegatus in Korea

Hyun-Sil Kang1, Hyun-Sung Yang2, Kimberly S. Reece3, Hyun-Ki Hong1, Kyung-Il Park4, Kwang-Sik Choi1,*

1School of Marine Biomedical Science (BK21 PLUS), Jeju National University, 102 Jejudaehakno, Jeju 63243, South Korea
2Jeju International Marine Science Center for Research and Education, Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST), Jeju 63349, South Korea
3Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, PO Box 1346, Gloucester Point, VA 23062-1346, USA
4Department of Aquatic Life Medicine, College of Ocean Science and Engineering, Kunsan National University, Gunsan 54150, South Korea
*Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: The recent discovery of Perkinsus honshuensis, a new Perkinsus species infecting Manila clams Ruditapes philippinarum (Sowerby, 1852), in Japan, suggested that, based on proximity, P. honshuensis could also be in Korean waters, where to date, P. olseni was believed to be the only Perkinsus species present. Perkinsus sp. infections consistently occurred among Ruditapes variegatus clams on a pebble beach on Jeju Island, off the south coast of Korea. The typical ‘signet ring’ morphology of the parasite was observed in the connective tissue of the digestive gland, and infection intensity was comparatively low (3.3 × 103 ± 1.2 × 104 to 1.3 × 104 ± 6.1 × 104 cells g-1 gill weight). Further DNA analyses of internal transcribed spacer (ITS-1, 5.8S and ITS-2) and non-transcribed spacer (NTS) regions of the parasite showed 98.9-99.8 and 98.5-99.5% similarity to those of P. honshuensis from Japan, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses using ITS and NTS sequences indicated that Perkinsus sp. from Jeju formed a highly supported clade with P. honshuensis. This is the first report of P. honshuensis infections in clams in Korean waters and the first report of R. variegatus as a host for that parasite.


KEY WORDS: Perkinsus honshuensis · Ruditapes variegatus · Ray’s fluid thioglycollate medium · RFTM · Histology · ITS · NTS


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Cite this article as: Kang HS, Yang HS, Reece KS, Hong HK, Park KI, Choi KS (2016) First report of Perkinsus honshuensis in the variegated carpet shell clam Ruditapes variegatus in Korea. Dis Aquat Org 122:35-41. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03063

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