title: Fungal infection of mantis shrimp (Oratosquilla oratoria) caused by two anamorphic fungi found in Japan.
abstract: Two fungal pathogens of the mantis shrimp (Oratosquilla oratoria) in Yamaguchi and Aichi Prefectures, Japan are described as the new species Plectosporium oratosquillae and Acremonium sp. (a member of the Emericellopsis marine clade). Both fungi infect the gills of the mantis shrimp, which become brown or black due to melanization. The former species is characterized by its slow growth on artificial seawater yeast extract peptone glucose (PYGS) agar, pale yellow to pale orange or grayish yellow colonies, short cylindrical solitary phialides with a wavy tip, and one-celled ellipsoidal conidia. Although lacking the two-celled conidia demonstrated by the type species Plectosporium tabacinum, the taxonomic placement of the new species was confirmed by DNA sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal DNA (ITS1, 5.8S rDNA and ITS2). Acremonium sp., the other causal pathogen, differs from P. oratosquillae by its fast growth on PYGS agar, pale orange to salmon-colored colonies, long, slender conidiophores consisting of solitary phialides with tips lacking an undulate outline, and typically cylindrical conidia. Analysis of ITS and beta-tubulin gene sequences placed this fungus within the phylogenetically distinct Emericellopsis (anam. Acremonium) marine clade. Various physiological characteristics of both pathogens were also investigated. This is the first report of a fungal infection found on the mantis shrimp in Japan.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Fish Diseases, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, 1-7-1 Kyonan-cho, Musashino, 180-8602, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Pham Minh
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Duc
authors.forename: Kishio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hatai
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kurata
authors.forename: Kozue
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tensha
authors.forename: Uchida
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Yoshitaka
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yaguchi
authors.forename: Shun-ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Udagawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003445:Crustacea / Q000382:microbiology*; D003470:Culture Media; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007564:Japan; D012623:Seawater; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media