DAO

Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

DAO is a hybrid research journal on all aspects of disease phenomena in aquatic organisms.

Online: ISSN 1616-1580

Print: ISSN 0177-5103

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/dao

Impact Factor1.2 (JCR 2025 release)

Article Acceptance Rate47.2% (2024)

Average Time in Review183 days (2024)

Total Annual Downloads628.396 (2025)

Volume contents
Dis Aquat Org 145:165-172 (2021)

Histological assessment of systemic granulomatosis progression in meagre Argyrosomus regius during cage ongrowing phase

ABSTRACT: Meagre Argyrosomus regius is a potential candidate for Mediterranean aquaculture diversification, although several health issues still represent important bottlenecks for its sustainable production, including systemic granulomatosis (SG). To evaluate the SG progression in meagre during a 10 mo period of cage ongrowing, a histopathological investigation was carried out on 108 meagre fed 3 different diets (commercial pellets, hydrated commercial pellets and defrosted sardines). Histological sections of the gills and visceral organs were examined and lesions referable to SG scored from 1-3 according to the severity of the granulomatosis. The kidney and liver were the most affected organs, showing the highest percentage of positivity for granulomas and severity of lesions along the whole observation period. Using a statistical mixed model (GLMM) followed by odds ratio analysis, an effect of diet and temperature was found: the severity of liver and digestive tract SG scores decreased in the Cage 3 group (defrosted sardines) and with increasing temperature (p < 0.05, negative estimates, odds ratio <1). These observations, in accordance with the literature, suggest that SG in meagre could be related to nutritional-metabolic factors with the possible influence of environmental factors such as temperature.

KEYWORDS

Andrea Gustinelli (Corresponding Author)

  • Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40064 Ozzano Emilia (BO), Italy
andrea.gustinelli2@unibo.it

Slavica Čolak (Co-author)

  • CROMARIS d.d., 23000 Zadar, Croatia

Francesco Quaglio (Co-author)

  • Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padova, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy

Rubina Sirri (Co-author)

  • Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40064 Ozzano Emilia (BO), Italy

Matko Kolega (Co-author)

  • CROMARIS d.d., 23000 Zadar, Croatia

Danijel Mejdandžić (Co-author)

  • CROMARIS d.d., 23000 Zadar, Croatia

Monica Caffara (Co-author)

  • Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40064 Ozzano Emilia (BO), Italy

Renata Baric (Co-author)

  • CROMARIS d.d., 23000 Zadar, Croatia

Maria Letizia Fioravanti (Co-author)

  • Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40064 Ozzano Emilia (BO), Italy