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Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

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DAO 131:29-37 (2018)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03274

Dinoflagellates Amyloodinium and Ichthyodinium (Dinophyceae), parasites of marine fishes in the South Atlantic Ocean

Fernando Gómez1,*, Rebecca J. Gast2

1Carmen Campos Panisse 3, 11500 Puerto de Santa María, Spain
2Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1049, USA
*Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: The morphology and molecular phylogeny of the parasitic dinoflagellates Ichthyodinium chabelardi and Amyloodinium ocellatum was investigated off Brazil (South Atlantic Ocean). This is the first record of Ichthyodinium and the first molecular data of both parasites from the southern hemisphere. I. chabelardi infected the yolk of eggs of wild populations of Argentine anchovy Engraulis anchoita (Engraulidae) and Brazilian sardinella Sardinella brasiliensis (Clupeidae) in different seasons. The small subunit (SSU) rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene sequences were identical and confirmed Ichthyodinium as a host generalist. The new sequences clustered with the type species I. chabelardi from the North Atlantic and environmental sequences from the Pacific Ocean. A second species from the western Pacific remains undescribed. A. ocellatum was isolated from the gills of a cultured cobia Rachycentron canadum after causing mortality. The SSU rRNA gene sequence of the Brazilian isolate was almost identical to those from the northern hemisphere. This suggests a single species with a widespread distribution, although it is uncertain whether the species has a natural pantropical distribution or is the result of artificial distribution due to human-induced fish transport.


KEY WORDS: Fish parasite · Yolk egg parasite · Amyloodiniosis · Marine velvet disease · Ichthyoplankton infestation · Dinoflagellata


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Cite this article as: Gómez F, Gast RJ (2018) Dinoflagellates Amyloodinium and Ichthyodinium (Dinophyceae), parasites of marine fishes in the South Atlantic Ocean. Dis Aquat Org 131:29-37. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03274

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