J Vet Sci. 2006 Dec;7(4):369-374   
 

Detection of betanodaviruses in apparently healthy aquarium fishes and invertebrates

Dennis Kaw Gomez1, Dong Joo Lim2, Gun Wook Baeck3, Hee Jeong Youn1,4, Nam Shik Shin1,4, Hwa Young Youn1,4, Cheol Yong Hwang1,4, Jun Hong Park2, Se Chang Park1,4,*

 

1KRF Zoonotic Disease Priority Research Institute, and 4College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea. parksec@snu.ac.kr
2Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Applied Life Sciences, Cheju National University, Jeju 690-756, Korea
3Faculty of Marine Technology, Chonnam National University, Yeosu 550-749, Korea

 

Betanodaviruses are the causative agents of viral nervous necrosis (VNN) in cultured marine fish. A total of 237 apparently healthy aquarium fish, marine (65 species) and freshwater (12 species) fishes and marine invertebrates (4 species), which were stocked in a commercial aquarium in Seoul, South Korea, were collected from November 2005 to February 2006. The brains of the fish and other tissues of the invertebrates were examined by reverse transcriptasepolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and nested PCR to detect betanodavirus. Positive nested PCR results were obtained from the brains of 8 marine fish species (shrimp fish Aeoliscus strigatus, milkfish Chanos chanos, three spot damsel Dascyllus trimaculatus, Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus, pinecone fish Monocentris japonica, blue ribbon eel Rhinomuraena quaesita, look down fish Selene vomer, yellow tang Zebrasoma flavesenes), 1 marine invertebrate species (spiny lobster Pamulirus versicolor), and 2 freshwater fish species (South American leaf fish Monocirrhus polyacanthus and red piranha Pygocentrus nattereri). The detection rate in nested PCR was 11/237 (4.64%). These subclinically infected aquarium fish and invertebrates may constitute an inoculum source of betanodaviruses for cultured fishes in the Korean Peninsula.