Identification and characterization of pathogens associated with fin erubescence and ulceration of cultured Scophthalmus maximus

Scophthalmas maximus is a precious and main aquacultural species in northern China with an annual output value of more than 1.5 billion yuan. However, with the expansion of breeding range, increased stocking density and variety degradation, a variety of bacterial, parasitic and viral diseases have often occurred and worsened. Among them, bacterial disease is the most serious in farmed S. maximus. Since 2010, an epidemic bacterial disease with primary symptoms of lighter colour of lateral and caudal fins, spotty bleeding, fin base bleeding, abdominal swelling and redness and lesions of internal organs has put broken in S. maximus cultured in Weihai, Longkou and Haiyang, Shandong Province, China. The disease occurred mostly at the seedling and early development stages and propagated very fast, resulting in high mortality. These S. maximus died with obvious surface ulceration in only 3–4 days, causing great economic losses to the aquaculture industry. Beginning in 2010, we conducted epidemiological investigation in farmed S. maximus and isolated two different pathogens from the body of the diseased S. maximus from different farms. In this paper, we observed their morphology, conducted phylogenetic analysis based on their physiological and conventional biochemical characteristics and 16S rRNA gene sequences, preliminarily analysed their pathogenesis and investigated the histopathological changes of the diseased S. maximus. We believed that Vibrio anguillarum and V. parahaemolyticus were the pathogenic bacteria for the epidemic disease in S. maximus.