Interspecific transmission and recovery of TCBS-induced disease between Acanthaster planci and Linckia guildingi

Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

M. S. Pratchett¹  P. J. Schupp¹  C. F. Caballes¹  J. A. Rivera-Posada¹ 

关键词: Acanthaster planci;    Disease transmission;    Vibrio rotiferianus;    Harveyi group;    Linckia guildingi;    Crown-of-thorns starfish;   

DOI  :  10.3354/dao02480

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Inter-Research

【 摘 要 】

ABSTRACT: The susceptibility of the coral-feeding crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci to disease may provide an avenue with which to effectively control population outbreaks that have caused severe and widespread coral loss in the Indo-Pacific. Injecting thiosulfate-citrate-bile-sucrose (TCBS) agar into A. planci tissues induced a disease characterized by dermal lesions, loss of skin turgor, collapsed spines, and accumulation of mucus on spine tips. Moreover, the symptoms (and presumably the agent) of this disease would spread rapidly intraspecifically, but interspecific transmission (to other species of echinoderms) is yet to be examined. Vibrio rotiferianus, which was previously reported as a pathogen isolated from lesions of experimentally infected A. planci, was also recovered from Linckia guildingi lesions after several days of direct contact with diseased A. planci, demonstrating disease transmission. However, all L. guildingi fully recovered after 31 ± 16 d. Further studies are in progress to understand the ecology of Vibrio infection in A. planci and the potential transmission risk to corals, fishes, and other echinoderms to evaluate whether injections of TCBS could be a viable tool for controlling A. planci outbreaks.

【 授权许可】

Unknown