COBIA (Rachycentron canadum)

as researchers, the following provides an overview of the published literature on cobia diseases,parasites and physical deformities.101. Mendoza, M., Gueiza, L., Martinez, X., Caraballo, X., Rojas, J., Aranguren, L.F. & Salazar,M. (2013). A novel agent (Endozoicomonas elysicola) responsible for epitheliocystis in cobiaRachycentrum canadum larvae. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 106(1), 31-37.Aquaculture of cobia has gained popularity in the last decade, and this species is now farmed inseveral countries in Latin America and Asia. Despite recent improvement in production techniquesthat allowed the expansion of the industry, little is known about the diseases that affect cobia duringthe larviculture stage. In this article we investigated the cause of mass mortalities occurring 13-20 dpost-hatching in 3 cycles of cobia larviculture. Wet mounts from diseased larvae gills revealed thepresence of cyst-like basophilic inclusions. DNA from the cysts was extracted and PCR amplifiedusing the 16S rRNA gene universal primers for prokaryotes. The amplified products weresequenced and analyzed using BLAST, finding a similarity of 99% with Endozoicomonas elysicola,a Gram-negative bacterium. Confirmation of E. elysicola was conducted by designing a specificprobe for in situ hybridization. Specific primers were also designed for diagnostic purposes. This isthe first report of epitheliocystis in cobia larvae and also the first report of E. elysicola as anepitheliocystis-causing agent.102. Mendoza-Franco, E.F. & Vidal-Martinez, V.M. (2011). First records of known endoparasiticspecies of Pseudempleurosoma Yamaguti, 1965 (Monogenoidea: Dactylogyridae) fromTetraodontid and Rachycentrid fish off the Northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.Journal of Parasitology, 97(6): 1020-1025.Monogenoideans infecting the rectum of the wild checkered puffer fish, Sphoeroides testudineus(Tetraodontidae), and the pyloric ceca of the cultured cobia, Rachycentron canadum(Rachycentridae), from the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, were morphologicallyidentified as Pseudempleurosoma carangis Yamaguti, 1965 and Pseudempleurosoma gibsoniSantos, Mourão and Cárdenas, 2001 (Dactylogyridae), respectively. Morphometric comparisonbetween the paratypes of P. carangis and those from S. testudineus showed that the latter differonly in the length of the body, germarium, and dorsal anchors. Similarly, a small form of P. gibsonibased on body size was detected in the present study. These metric differences may be attributableto the host effect, i.e., S. testudineus / R. canadum versus Caranx lugubris (Carangidae) (type hostof P. carangis) from Hawaii and Paralonchurus brasiliensis (Sciaenidae) (type host of P. gibsoni)from Brazil, or by the degree of maturity, or both. In view of these considerations, new illustrationsand several supplemental observations for P. carangis and P. gibsoni are provided. The presentfindings also represent new geographical records, and new sites of infection, e.g., rectum andpyloric ceca, for species of Pseudempleurosoma, and the first known endoparasiticmonogenoideans infecting tetraodontid and rachycentrid fishes in Mexico.103. Moravec, F. & De Buron, I. (2009). Two new species of Philometrids (Nematoda: Philometridae)from marine fishes off South Carolina. Journal of Parasitology, 95(3), 722-727.Two new species of philometrid nematodes, Philometra gymnothoracis n. sp. and Philometroidesmarinus n. sp., are described from female specimens collected from the body cavity of the spottedmoray, Gymnothorax moringa (Cuvier) (Muraenidae, Anguilliformes), and the cobia, Rachycentroncanadum (Linnaeus) (Rachycentridae, Perciformes), respectively, from off the Atlantic coast ofSouth Carolina. Philometra gymnothoracis n. sp. is mainly characterized by the conspicuouslydepressed mouth, the presence of 8 small cephalic papillae arranged in 4 submedian pairs, theesophagus with an anterior bulbous inflation, 2 small papilla-like caudal projections, the bodylength of the gravid female 435-760 mm, short ovaries, the length of larvae from the uterus 474-544µm, and by the location in the host (body cavity). Philometroides marinus n. sp. differs from itscongeners parasitizing marine and brackish water fishes mainly in having small cuticular bossesonly on the anterior part of the body; in possessing 4 markedly large cephalic projections, each with2 minute papillae, 2 large caudal projections, and in the location in the host (body cavity); the bodylength of subgravid and gravid females is 130-550 mm and that of larvae from the uterus 600-642µm104. Nahhas, F.M. & Sey, O. (2002). Digenetic trematodes from marine fishes off the coast of Kuwait,Arabian Gulf: Superfamily Hemiuroidea. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae,48(1), 1-20.30