Therapeutic effects of enrofloxacin in an experimental infection with a luminescent Vibrio harveyi in Artemia franciscana Kellog 1906

Although a wide range and number of chemotherapeutants have been developed and applied in aquaculture, there have been no studies on the absorption of antibiotics by crustacean larvae and, consequently, none has been reported to treat an established infection.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of enrofloxacin during an experimental infection with the strain PN9801 identified as Vibrio harveyi in Artemia franciscana.

Four treatments were used: (1) Nauplii experimentally infected with V. harveyi; (2) Nauplii enriched with enrofloxacin; (3) Nauplii enriched with enrofloxacin and, 4 h later, experimentally infected with V. harveyi; and (4) Nauplii experimentally infected with V. harveyi and 24 h later enriched with enrofloxacin. Survival rates were estimated after 48 h and they were as it follows: 29%, 99%, 88% and 85% for treatments 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively.

This study is the first one to show some evidence that antibiotics can, in fact, withhold the course of a bacterial infection already established in Artemia and possibly in crustaceans.