Aeromonas veronii, a potential pathogen of enteritis in snakehead fish Ophiocephalus argus

Abstract

Enteritis is known as a major disease in snakehead fish Ophiocephalus argus aquaculture and has resulted in large economic losses. Yet only scarce information is available on Aeromonas veronii as a causal agent for enteritis in O. argus. In this study, a virulent strain, temporarily named HY2, was isolated from diseased snakehead fish suffering from enteritis, and was identified as A. veronii through molecular and phenotypic methods. In addition, the HY2 isolate showed an LD50 value of 2.8×105 CFU mL-1, and was highly sensitive to aminoglycosides, macrolides, polypeptides, quinolones, sulfonamides and tetracyclines antibiotics. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of A. veronii as a potential pathogen of enteritis in snakehead fish.