Neobenedenia melleni from reef ornamental fish species in a retailer of Southeastern Brazil and its possible role as a mechanical vector of bacterial infection

• Published in: Journal of parasitic diseases Vol. 46; no. 1; pp. 1 - 7
• Main Authors: Cardoso, Pedro H. M., Relvas, Rachel S., de C. Balian, Simone, Poor, Andre P., Moreno, Andrea M., Moreno, Luísa Z., Barbosa, Mikaela R. F., Sato, Maria I. Z., Furtado, William E., Martins, Maurício L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01-03-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Antiparasitic agents; Bacterial infections; Cell culture; Ectoparasites; Fish; Fish culture; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Infectious Diseases; Ions; Mass spectroscopy; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neobenedenia melleni; Ornamental fish; Praziquantel; Short Communication; Species; Brazil; Secondary infection; Mechanical vector; Monogenea; Capsalidae; Marine reef fish
• ISSN: 0971-7196; 0975-0703
• DOI: 10.1007/s12639-021-01430-w

Annually, more than 2500 ornamental fish species are traded worldwide. Forty percent of these are from marine water. Some 98% of marine species are wild-caught from their natural habitat, and the majority subsequently exported. Wild fish frequently carry pathogens, which could induce diseases after the stress of capture.
Neobenedenia melleni
is a platyhelminth that mainly attaches to the skin and eyes of the host. It provokes dermal inflammation, epidermal loss, skin depigmentation, reduction in the number of mucous cells, and, consequently, decreased mucus protection, and declining immunological barriers. This makes fish susceptible to secondary infections. A total of 47 wild reef fish from a retailer were examined, suspected to be infected with ectoparasites. The morphological identification revealed
N. melleni
as a monogenean agent. One monogenean specimen was collected from the eye of each of the 40 fish analyzed to evaluate possible bacterial secondary infections using the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) technique. The MALDI-TOF MS identified that 59% of monogenean collected from the eyes had bacteria, including some pathogenic to fish. This led us to believe that the ectoparasite can be a possible mechanical vector of pathogenic bacteria for fish culture and maintenance. The use of praziquantel as an antiparasitic agent is also discussed.