Ulcerative enteritis in Homarus americanus: Case report and molecular characterization of intestinal aerobic bacteria of apparently healthy lobsters in live storage
An intermoult male American lobster, Homarus americanus, with severe intestinal lesions was encountered while collecting samples of aerobic intestinal bacteria from lobsters held in an artificial sea-water recirculation aquarium system. Grossly, the intestine was firm, thickened, and white. Histolog...
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Published in | Journal of invertebrate pathology Vol. 99; no. 2; pp. 129 - 135 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Amsterdam
Elsevier Inc
01.10.2008
Elsevier |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | An intermoult male American lobster,
Homarus americanus, with severe intestinal lesions was encountered while collecting samples of aerobic intestinal bacteria from lobsters held in an artificial sea-water recirculation aquarium system. Grossly, the intestine was firm, thickened, and white. Histologic examination revealed a severe, diffuse, ulcerative enteritis which spared the chitin-lined colon, somewhat similar to hemocytic enteritis of shrimp. The bacterial isolates from this lobster were compared to 11 other lobsters lacking gross intestinal lesions. Two organisms, one identified as
Vibrio sp. and another most similar to an uncultured proteobacterium (98.9%), clustering with
Rhanella and
Serratia species using 16S rDNA PCR, were isolated from the intestines of the 11, grossly normal, lobsters and the affected lobster. An additional two intestinal isolates were cultured only from the lobster with ulcerative enteritis. One, a Flavobacterium, similar to
Lutibacter litoralis (99.3%), possibly represented a previously described commensal of the distal intestine. The second, a
Vibrio sp., was unique to the affected animal. While the etiology of the ulcerative enteritis remains undetermined, this report represents the first description of gross and histologic findings in
H. americanus of a condition which has morphologic similarities to hemocytic enteritis of shrimp. An additional observation was a decrease in the number of intestinal isolates recovered from the 11 apparently healthy lobsters compared to that previously reported for recently harvested lobster. More comprehensive studies of the relationship between the health of lobsters, gut microbial flora and the husbandry and environment maintained within holding units are warranted. |
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Bibliography: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2008.06.013 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Case Study-2 ObjectType-Feature-4 ObjectType-Report-1 ObjectType-Article-3 |
ISSN: | 0022-2011 1096-0805 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.jip.2008.06.013 |