Aquaculture Reports 2 (2015) 22–25
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Aquaculture Reports
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Esophageal infection due to Kudoa sp. (Myxozoa) in mapara catfish,
Hypophthalmus marginatus
a b a c
Michele Velasco , Marcela Videira , José Mauro Viana da Silva , Osimar Sanches ,
d e a,∗
Patrícia Santos Matos , Sérgio Carmona de São Clemente , Edilson Matos
a
Carlos Azevedo Research Laboratory, Federal Rural University of Amazonia (UFRA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
b
Morphophysiology and Animal Health Laboratory, Amapá State University (UEAP), Macapá, Amapá, Brazil
c
MV. Pathologist – Veterinary Diagnostic Center – CDAPVET, Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, Brazil
d
Edilson Matos Research Laboratory, Federal University of Pará (UFPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
e
Faculty of Veterinary, Federal Fluminense University (UFF), Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
a
r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: The present study describes lesions caused by Kudoa sp. in the esophageal tissue of mapará catfishes
Received 26 November 2014
(Hypophthalmus marginatus) collected from Cametá, Tocantins River in the northern Brazil. Fifty refriger-
Received in revised form 23 April 2015
ated H. marginatus specimens were dissected and tissue samples were for embedded in paraffin and
Accepted 1 May 2015
stained with hematoxylin-eosi, Masson’s trichrome and Giemsa. Pseudocysts of whitish color were
Available online 22 May 2015
observed in the esophagus region. The parasites had four valves and other morphological characteristics
of the genus Kudoa. Microscopic analysis revealed lesions in the mucosa, submucosa, and muscular layers.
Keywords:
The Masson staining highlighted the presence of myxosporean cysts in the cytoplasm of the muscular
Amazonia
Esophagus fibers, and marked fibrosis of the muscular and mucous layers. The macro and microscopic findings of
Disease the present study confirm the presence of necrotic esophagitis in H. marginatus associated with infection
Mapará by Kudoa.
Myxozoan © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
1. Introduction As result of the herbivorous habit, high filet yield, good meat
taste and nutritional standards (Costa et al., 2010), associated to
The Amazon has the greatest diversity of freshwater fish in the great commercial importance, H. marginatus has been studied
the world (Santos and Santos, 2005). However, there is a lack for farming. Recently, the species was included in lists of fish with
of knowledge on the ichthyofauna inhabiting the various aquatic potential for aquaculture, divulged by govern agencies and private
environments available (Soares et al., 2008). The high diversity of companies. (Brasil, 2015). In this context, know the parasites find in
habitats creates conditions for evolving many fish species with natural populations is important to prevent potential infestations
different characteristics. Some of them have great potential for in culture conditions.
aquaculture and high value on the international market, such as The importance of ichthyoparasites has increased in the past
the mapará catfish Hypophthalmus marginatus Valenciennes, 1840. years because of their implications for human health and economic
It is a peculiar siluriform, which is pelagic and phytoplanktopha- activities. Parasitological studies on H. marginatus are rare in the
gus. Mapara is largely exploited by fisheries (Worthmann, 1980) literature. The myxosporidiosis in this species is more important.
and most of the catch is exported abroad or to other regions in Recently, Rocha et al. (2014) described a new species of myx-
Brazil (Cutrim and Batista, 2005). osporean, Thelohanellus marginatus, infecting gills of mapara. A
number of myxosporean species, especially those of the genus
Kudoa Meglitsch, 1947, are of considerable importance due to their
∗ effects on the quality of fishery products, in particular due to post-
Corresponding author at: Laboratório de Pesquisa Carlos Azevedo, Universidade
◦ mortem myoliquefaction of the muscle tissue, which is rendered
Federal Rural da Amazônia, Avenida Presidente Tancredo Neves, N 2501 Bairro,
Montese, Cidade, Belém, Pará Cep: 66.077-901, Brazil. Tel.: +55 913210 5207. unacceptable for human consumption (Morado and Sparks, 1986;
E-mail addresses: michele [email protected] (M. Velasco), Stehr and Whitaker, 1986; Moran et al., 1999a). The genus Myxobo-
[email protected] (M. Videira), [email protected]
lus are also described as a causative of myoliquefaction of in fish.
(J.M. Viana da Silva), [email protected] (O. Sanches), [email protected]
In south Brazil, Eiras et al. (2005) have reported myoliquefac-
(P. Santos Matos), [email protected] (S. Carmona de São Clemente),
tion in the flounder Paralichthys orbignyanus due to infection by
[email protected] (E. Matos).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aqrep.2015.05.001
2352-5134/© 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4. 0/).
M. Velasco et al. / Aquaculture Reports 2 (2015) 22–25 23
Fig. 1. Hypophthalmus marginatus. (A) Macroscopic view of the whitish cysts in the esophagus region (*). (B) Optical photomicrographs by means of differential interference
contrast (DIC; Nomarski) showing in natura Kudoa spores in apical view (Ep). Scale bar 10 m.
Fig. 2. Hypophthalmus marginatus. (C) Transverse section of the esophagus region, showing edema in the submucosa (arrowheads) and necrosis of the muscle area (arrow). HxE.
Scale bar 100 m. (D) Mucosa of the esophagus region infiltrated by lymphocytes (arrow). HxE. Scale bar 100 m. (E) Transverse section of the esophagus region, showing
pseudocysts of Kudoa in the muscle layer (Ci) and presence of a large quantity of free spores in the mucosa region (arrow). Giemsa. Scale bar. 100 m. (F) Observation
intracitoplasmatic pseudocysts Kudoa sp. (arrows), and necrosis of the muscle fibers (arrowheads). T. Masson. Scale bar. 100 m. (G) Fibrosis in the mucosa and submucosa
(arrows) and intense infiltration of lymphocytes (arrowheads). Masson T. Scale bar 100 m. (H) Muscle layer of the esophagus, showing fibrosis surrounding the muscle
fibers (arrows) and cysts containing Kudoa spores (arrowheads). Masson T. Scale bar 100 m.
24 M. Velasco et al. / Aquaculture Reports 2 (2015) 22–25
Myxobolus sp. This muscle lysis result from action by proteases regions. Moran et al. (1999a) observed that when spores were
produced parasites, resulting in myoliquefaction in the tissue of released from pseudocysts through bursting, they generated an
their host. (Moran et al., 1999b). The present study describes inflammatory reaction with phagocyte involvement. Other stud-
macroscopic and microscopic lesions caused by Kudoa cysts in the ies, such as those by Andrada et al. (2005) on Trichiurus lepturus,
esophageal region of the mapará catfish H. marginatus in the Ama- Heckmann and Jensen (1978) on Sebastes paucispinis and Casal
zon basin, northern Brazil. et al. (2008) on Aequidens plagiozonatus, described infections due to
Kudoa with little or no inflammatory reaction. According to those
findings, infection of the esophageal musculature of H. margina-
2. Material and methods
tus by Kudoa sp. caused damage to the host fish, culminating in
Fifty specimens of the mapara H. marginatus, of 30 cm length inflammatory process and of fibrosis in the muscle layer, due to
(28–34 cm) and 75 g weight (72–78 g), were acquired dead from intense infection of the muscle fiber, and in the submucosa layers
◦ ◦
artisan fishermen near the town of Cametá (2 14 S, 49 29 W), in and mucosa of the esophagus, due to bursting of the pseudocysts
the northern Brazil state of Pará, between July 2011 and May 2012. with spore releasing.
The specimens were transported in refrigerated containers to the In aquaculture, the fish are subject to infection by numerous
Carlos Azevedo Research Laboratory at the Federal Rural University species of parasites, due to various stress factors provided by the
of Amazonia, in Belém. The fish were necropsied and the esophageal management (Tavares-Dias et al., 2001). Then, the results obtained
portion of the gastrointestinal tract was observed under a stereomi- in this work are fundamental to characterize the parasitological
croscope appropriate for parasitological studies. profile of the H. marginatus. It may subsidize research to standardize
For fresh examination, small tissue fragments with suspected methods of control and prevention, and avoid spread diseases in
parasitism were placed between slides and coverslips with a drop animals in aquaculture.
of water, for observation under an optical microscope and a dif-
ferential interference contrast (DIC) microscope (Nomarski). For Acknowledgements
the histological procedure, small fragments (0.5 cm) of the par-
asitized tissue extracted from the esophageal region of the fish We are grateful to Coordenac¸ ão de Aperfeic¸ oamento de Pessoal
specimens were fixed in Davidson’s solution (neutral-buffered for- de Nível Superior (CAPES), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento
malin, glacial acetic acid, 95% ethanol and distilled water) for 24 h Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Fundac¸ ão Amazônia Paraense de
and processed for setting in paraffin and stained with Masson’s Amparo à Pesquisa (FAPESPA) and The Edilson Matos Research Lab-
trichrome, hematoxylin-eosin and Giemsa (Luna, 1968). The sec- oratory (LPEM–UFPA) and to Mr. David Elliff for idiom revision
tions were stained and mounted on slides with a coverslip and of the manuscript. The helpful suggestions and comments of the
analyzed in a Nikon E-200 light microscope equipped with the Associate Editor and reviewers are greatly appreciated.
®
Micrometrics SE Premium image-capturing software.
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