Journal
VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY
Volume 174, Issue 3-4, Pages 359-365Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.08.024
Keywords
Aquaculture; Sea bream; Crustacean ectoparasite; Gill cell responses; Mucous cells
Categories
Funding
- Italian Ministry of the University
- Scientific Research and Technology
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Light and ultrastructure studies were carried out on gill of sea bream, Sparus aurata L, naturally infected with Ergasilus sieboldi (Copepoda) to assess pathology and host cell responses. Thirty S. aurata were examined, and 23 (74%) were infected, the intensity of infection ranging from 3 to 50 parasites per host. The copepod encircled gill lamellae with its second antennae, occluded arteries, compressed the epithelium, provoked hyperplasia and haemorrhage, and often caused tissue disruption. Adjacent to the site of attachment, rodlet cells (RCs), mast cells (MCs) and mucous cells were observed. In parasitized fish, mucous cells were more abundant in infected gills than in uninfected (t-test, P<0.01), while no significant differences were encountered in the numbers of RCs and MCs between gill of infected and uninfected fish (t-test, P>0.01). In both infected and uninfected gill, the RCs were within the primary lamella and also sometimes occurred in secondary lamella. In healthy and infected gill, MCs were free within the connective tissue inside and outside the blood vessels of the primary lamellae and made close contact with vascular endothelial cells. Infected and uninfected gill mucous cells stained positively for neutral muco-substances (PAS positive). In all sea bream, gill mucous cells presented a central or eccentric electron-dense core within the mucus granules. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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