Diversity of vibrios in the haemolymph of the spider crab Maja brachydactyla

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study was to characterise and identify vibrios isolated from the haemolymph of apparently healthy adult spider crabs (Maja brachydactyla) wild‐caught in the Spanish localities of Galician coast and in the Canary Islands and also from captive animals held at IRTA’s facilities in the Ebro Delta of Catalonia, north‐west Spanish Mediterranean coast. Methods and Results: A total of 277 bacterial isolates were obtained, and of these, 171 were characterised with rep‐PCR, resulting electrophoretic bands were analysed and clusters formed. Identification of representative strains of each cluster was made by sequencing the 16S rRNA. Samples from animals caught in Galicia and captive at IRTA (around 15–18°C) rendered mostly species belonging to the Splendidus clade (72·2 and 76·6% respectively), commonly found in cold waters (below 20°C). Higher species diversity was found in the haemolymph of the captive animals. In the warmer Canary Islands waters (around 21°C), the diversity of vibrios is dominated by three clades, Harveyi (Vibrio core group, 39·3%), Orientalis (23·2%) and Splendidus (21·4%) with a species diversity that equals that of the colder captive animals. Conclusions: Differences in the vibrios populations were found in the haemolymph extracted from animals collected from the three localities. Potential new species were found, and their description is under way. Significance and Impact of Study: As with other invertebrates, spider crabs also contain a diverse population of vibrios. These findings should help researchers to diagnose when a crab is infected.

Bacterial Community Associated with the Intestinal Tract of P. monodon in Commercial Farms

“…were found in large numbers but only in one or two shrimp samples. Vibrios from the Orientalis clade and its close relatives have been found associated with aquatic animals such as in the hemolymph of spider crab Maja brachydactyla [18] and in the digestive tract of Chinese prawn Penaeus chinensis [65]. Many Vibrio species observed in this study have been associated with diseases in other organisms such as coral (V. coralliilyticus/V.…”

Assessment of the effects of confinement in the spider crabMaja brachydactylaBlass, 1922 broodstock

“…Studies in crabs and shrimps have shown that haemolymph metabolites can be used as valuable biomarkers for assessing the physiological condition of wild and cultured animals (Durand, Devillers, Lallier & Regnault 2000;Frederich & Pörtner 2000;Palacios 2000;Sanchez, Pascual, Sánchez, Vargas-Albores, LeMoullac & Rosas 2000;Pascual, Gaxiola & Rosas 2005). In this sense, recent findings have suggested that bacterial populations found in the haemolymph of the apparent healthy spider crabs could be used as an indicator of the health status of captive animals (Gómez-Gil, Roque, Lacuesta & Rotllant 2010). In this sense, recent findings have suggested that bacterial populations found in the haemolymph of the apparent healthy spider crabs could be used as an indicator of the health status of captive animals (Gómez-Gil, Roque, Lacuesta & Rotllant 2010).…”

Hemolymph microbiome of Pacific oysters in response to temperature, temperature stress and infection

“…Tissues of healthy marine invertebrates usually harbor species-rich microbial communities (Prieur et al, 1990;Gomez-Gil et al, 1998;Romero et al, 2002;Gomez-Gil et al, 2010;King et al, 2012;Trabal et al, 2012;Wegner et al, 2013). This also applies to the hemolymph (Olafsen et al, 1993;Garnier et al, 2007, Wendling et al, 2014-the functional analog of blood in vertebrates (Bachere et al, 2004).…”