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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #344899
Research Project: Detection and Control of Foodborne Parasites for Food Safety

Location: Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory

Title: New data on Eimeria dicentrarchi (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae), a common parasite of farmed European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) from the mid-eastern Adriatic

Author
item GJURCEVIC, EMIL - University Of Croatia
item KUZIER, SNJEZANA - University Of Croatia
item BAZDARIC, BRANIMIR - University Of Croatia
item DEBELIC, IRIS - University Of Croatia
item MERINO, FABIANO - University Of Messina
item DRASNER, KRESIMIR - Agricultural Institute Of Croatia
item Rosenthal, Benjamin

Submitted to: Veterinarski
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/22/2016
Publication Date: 1/15/2017
Citation: Gjurcevic, E., Kuzier, S., Bazdaric, B., Debelic, I., Merino, F., Drasner, K., Rosenthal, B.M. 2017. New data on Eimeria dicentrarchi (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae), a common parasite of farmed European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) from the mid-eastern Adriatic. Veterinarski. 87:77-86.

Interpretive Summary: Protozoan parasites of fish are poorly studied. Here, a parasite common in European sea bass was examined and its susceptibility to drug treatment was evaluated. Various developmental stages of Eimeria dicentrarchi were described in detail for the first time, and oral administration of potentiated sulphonamide was shown to hold promise in treating such infections. This information will interest fisheries biologists, veterinarians, and parasitologists.

Technical Abstract: This study extends the original description of Eimeria dicentrarchi Daoudi and Marquès, 1987, a common coccidian parasite of European sea bass from the mid-eastern Adriatic, by providing insights into the parasite’s site of infection, development and pathogenicity. E. dicentrarchi was found in various developmental stages in most segments, mainly anterior, of the digestive tract. In infected segments of the digestive tract, merogonic and gamogonic stages were located in the enterocyte cytoplasm, whereas sporogonic stages were situated in the epithelium and occasionally beneath it, in the lamina propria. Most oocysts in the lumen of digestive tract were completely sporulated, indicating endogenous sporulation. E. dicentrarchi infection caused localised histopathological changes restricted primarily to individual epithelial cells. Additionally, the results of our preliminary study suggest that oral administration of potentiated sulphonamide Trimetosul® (trimethoprim-sulfadiazine) may be effective against E. dicentrarchi infection.