Vibrio tapetis isolated from vesicular skin lesions in Dover sole Solea solea

Abstract

Vibrio tapetis is primarily known as the causative agent for brown ring disease in bivalves, although it has been isolated from cultivated fish during mortalities on farms. Here we describe the first isolation of V. tapetis from wild-caught and subsequently captive-held Dover sole Solea solea. Pathological features consisted of multifocal circular greyish-white skin discolourations evolving into vesicular lesions and subsequent ulcerations on the pigmented side. On the non-pigmented side, multiple circular lesions—white at the center and red at the edges—were evident. Histological examination of the vesicular lesions revealed dermal fluid-filled spaces, collagen tissue necrosis and a mixed inflammatory infiltrate, with large numbers of small rod-shaped bacteria. In the deep skin lesions, loss of scales and dermal connective tissue, with degeneration and fragmentation of the myofibres bordering the ulceration, were noted. Serotyping, DNA-DNA hybridization and REP- and ERIC-PCR techniques showed that the retrieved isolates displayed a profile similar to the representative strain of genotype/serotype O2 which originally was isolated from carpet-shell clam Venerupis decussata and to which isolates obtained from wedge sole Dicologoglossa cuneata were also closely related.