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The study of the recent colonisation of a symbiont and its interaction with host communities in new locations is an opportunity to understand how they interact. The use of isotopic ratios in trophic ecology can provide measurements of a species’ isotopic niche, as well as knowledge about how the isotopic niches between symbiont and host species ove...
Aquaculture is threatened by severe bacterial and viral outbreaks which can cause massive mortality and limit productivity. Antimicrobial peptides are a promising tool for the control of infectious diseases; however, their use in the aquaculture sector has been poorly explored. Recombinant production of peptides is an interesting alternative to the...
Anthropogenic drivers and global warming are altering the occurrence of infectious marine diseases, some of which produce mass mortalities with considerable ecosystemic and economic costs. The Mediterranean Sea is considered a laboratory to examine global processes, and the fan mussel Pinna nobilis a sentinel species within it. Since September 2016...
Correction: In Table 2, the sequence of primer HpR3 is incorrect.
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212028.].
Amyloodiniosis is a parasitic disease caused by the dinoflagellate Amyloodinium ocellatum. This parasitosis affects more than one hundred species of aquacultured fish, with fast and asymptomatic outbreaks that results in high morbidity and mortality in brackish and marine warm water fish. This disease is considered a serious impediment to several w...
Noble pen shell or fan mussel, Pinna nobilis Linnaeus (1758), protected since 1992, was incorporated into the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species (Category: Vulnerable, Royal Decree 139/2011). The status is presently in the process of being catalogued as critically endangered, pending approval by Spanish Government (https://www.mapama.gob.es/es...
The marine parasitic African pea crab Afropinnotheres monodi Manning, 1993 has well-established populations in the gulf of Cadiz, where it is invasive. In this study, its tolerance to temperature and salinity variation during larval development were studied in the laboratory. Larvae were reared in seawater (salinity 36) at different temperatures (5...
Aquest estudi aporta coneixements morfològics i moleculars d'una nova espècie d’haplospòrid (Haplosporidium pinnae), responsable de l’episodi de mortalitat massiva de les nacres, Pinna nobilis. L'anàlisi histològica mostra la presència de cèl·lules uninucleades d'haplospòrid al teixit conjuntiu de la nacra. A més, s’observen diversos estadis d’espo...
Aquaculture production and the variety of cultivated species has increased significantly in recent years. Moreover, intensive production always involves risks due to the loss of animal welfare and the proliferation of infectious diseases.
Amyloodiniosis is a parasitic disease caused by the dinoflagellate Amyloodinium ocellatum, that provokes fast a...
Some pea crabs are parasite of bivalves and may cause a significant effect on the host's condition. In this study, the prevalence of the pea crab Afropinnotheres monodi and its effect on host condition are assessed for two commercially important bivalves (the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and the cockle Cerastoderma edule) from three natural bed...
Currently, there are five species of pea crabs in
European waters. In the context of the AFROBIV project, in
which the effect of the African pea crab Afropinnotheres
monodi on bivalve species of commercial interest is being
studied, a sampling campaign has been carried out on bivalve
species of the coasts of southwestern Europe. The results of
this...
Three bacterial isolates were recovered from a disease outbreak with high mortality affecting brill Scophthalmus rhombus (Linnaeus, 1758). Moribund fish showed no external signs of disease, but plentiful haemorrhages were observed in liver. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic characterization, the isolates were identified as Aliivibrio fischer...
Four Gram-negative bacterial isolates were recovered from 2 disease outbreaks that occurred in 2013 affecting European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax fry and sea bream Sparus aurata adults. Main symptoms were erratic swimming, eroded fins and, in the sea bream outbreak, haemorrhages on the body surface; bacteria were always recovered from internal o...
Pseudomonas baetica is a pathogen described in 2012 from wedge sole (Dicologoglossa cuneata). The aims of this study were to 1) determine the influence of temperature on its virulence; and 2) develop specific protocols for rapid diagnosis. Virulence assays carried out by bath using Senegalese sole fry, showed that virulence is strongly influenced b...
In order to determine if ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) can be vertically transmitted, 9 full-sib families of the Portuguese oyster Crassostrea angulata were produced using a factorial mating design with 3 males and 3 females. The parents were survivors from an OsHV-1 mortality outbreak. OsHV-1 DNA was not detected by conventional PCR in the mantle...
This is the first report of ostreid herpesvirus 1 microvariant (OsHV-1 μVar) infecting natural oyster beds located in Huelva (SW Spain). The virus was detected in 3 oyster species present in the intertidal zone: Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg, 1793), C. angulata (Lamarck, 1819) and, for the first time, in Ostrea stentina Payraudeau, 1826. Oysters were...
Ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) infections have been reported in several bivalve species. Mortality of Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas spat has increased considerably in Europe since 2008 linked to the spread of a variant of OsHV-1 called μvar. In the present study we demonstrated that O. edulis juveniles can be infected by OsHV-1μvar when administ...
Libro de Actas del XV Congreso Nacional de Acuicultura y I Congreso Ibérico de Acuicultura, celebrados en el Palacio de Congresos "Casa Colón" de Huelva (España) entre los días 13 a 16 de octubre de 2015.
In the present study, Marteilia sp. was detected by histological examination and in situ hybridisation in Ostrea edulis and Ostrea stentina collected in southern Iberian Peninsula. Marteilia refringens DNA was detected by PCR in O. edulis (collected in southern Portugal) and O. stentina (collected in southern Spain and Portugal). Sequencing analysi...
Bonamiosis is a disease caused by protozoan para- sites of the genus Bonamia (phylum Haplospori- dia) that has been responsible for mass mortalities in different oyster species worldwide (for review see Bower 2011; Engelsma et al. 2014). Within the genus Bonamia, there are four known species, namely B. ostreae (Pichot et al. 1980), B. rougheyi (Far...
The Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis, Kaup 1858) is a flatfish species of great value for aquaculture. In this study, we develop the first linkage map in this species based on microsatellite markers characterized from genomic DNA libraries and EST databases of Senegalese sole and from other flatfish species. Three reference gynogenetic families...
The Portuguese oyster Crassostrea angulata was the main oyster species produced in Europe until the 1970s when mass mortalities almost led to its disappearance. At that time, mortality events were associated with detection of irido-like viruses and no record of herpes-like virus exists. Nowadays, C. angulata is only present in relatively few locati...
Cytogenetic abnormalities associated with viral infections, including from viruses of the Herpesvirales order, have been reported in vertebrate species. Ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) has been detected worldwide during mortality outbreaks of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. On the other hand, a high proportion of aneuploid cells in somatic tis...
In this study we have developed protocols for induced triploidy and gynogenesis of Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis), a promising flatfish species for marine aquaculture, in order to: 1) identify the sex-determination mechanism; and 2) to improve its production by generating a) sterile fish, avoiding problems related with sexual maturation, and...
Bonamia ostreae and B. exitiosa have caused mass mortalities of various oyster species around the world and co-occur in some European areas. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has included infections with both species in the list of notifiable diseases. However, official methods for species-specific diagnosis of either parasite have cer...
This chapter is a review of symbiont organisms affecting adults of different species of clams. The term "symbiont" includes mutualism, commensalism and parasitic relationships. We include within the term "clams" any bivalve mollusc other than oysters, mussels and scallops. The symbiont infecting clams reported in this chapter belong to viruses, fin...
The aim of this study is conditioning mussels with three different diets: A (T-Isochrysis), B (Chaetoceros) and C (T-Isochrysis + Chaetoceros) and determining the effect of micro-algae lipid composition. Three groups of mussels, brought to the hatchery from Gibraltar Strait in January 2011, were fed with one different diet during six weeks. All the...
The aim of this work was to develop a reverse line blot hybridization (RLB) assay for the identification of five fish pathogens (Tenacibaculum soleae, Tenacibaculum maritimum, Vibrio harveyi, Photobacterium damselae and Pseudomonas baetica) of importance in marine aquaculture. Species-specific probes were designed targeting the 16S-23S intergenic s...
The aims of this work were to characterize the 16S-23S internal spacer region of the fish pathogen Tenacibaculum soleae and to develop a PCR assay for its identification and detection. All T. soleae strains tested displayed a single internal spacer region class, containing tRNA(I) (le) and tRNA(A) (la) genes; nevertheless, a considerable intraspeci...
In this work, the wedge sole (Dicologoglossa cuneata) spawning under a natural thermocycle has been studied. The spawning parameters were similar to those of other flatfish in
captivity, the relative fecundity being very high (1.7±0.1×106eggskgfemale−1 per spawning season). The percentage of floating eggs decreased with time and was directly relate...
Five Gram-negative bacterial isolates, recovered from an outbreak that occurred in March 2006 in Huelva, Spain, affecting adult diseased cultured wedge sole [Dicologlossa cuneata (Moreau)], were characterized phenotypically and genotypically in order to clarify their taxonomic position. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the isolates...
The present study examines the total lipid (TL) and fatty acid (FA) composition in eggs of brill Scophthalmus rhombus L. and the possible relationships with their quality parameters. Wild broodstocks were caught and maintained in captivity until eggs were collected. A lipid characterization of each egg batch was conducted in TL, lipid classes (LC)...
The first isolation of Vibrio tapetis from Wedge sole (Dicologoglossa cuneata) is reported. The bacterium was recovered from ulcers of ailing cultured fish, from two different outbreaks occurred in spring 2005. The four isolates found (a200, a201, a204 and a255) were biochemically, genetically and serologically characterized and diagnosis was confi...
a b s t r a c t We have used the comet assay to analyse, after 3 h, 24 h and 6 days, the genotoxic effect in vivo of applying a single intraperitoneal injection of CuSO 4 , at a concentration of 2 mg/kg, to adult specimens of Solea senegalensis, Dicologlossa cuneata and Scophthalmus rhombus. Metals content (Cu, Zn and Cd) in liver was also measured...
The weaning phase can be decisive in fish-culture viability. In this work, the relationship between the initial size and weaning
success has been studied in wedge sole (Dicologoglossa cuneata). For each age (30, 50, and 70days after hatching, DAH), two to three sizes were selected, and all were put on the same
feeding schedule for 20days. Each batc...
The first isolation of Tenacibaculum maritimum from wedge sole, Dicologoglossa cuneata, is reported. The pathogen was recovered from ulcers of cultured fish, from three different outbreaks. The six isolates obtained were biochemically and serologically characterized and diagnosis was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction using specific primers and...
We report the first isolation of Vibrio harveyi from wedge sole Dicologoglossa cuneata. The pathogen was recovered from ulcers and internal organs of ailing cultured fish, from 7 different outbreaks between 2004 and 2006. The 15 isolates found were phenotypically characterized using biochemical tests and BIOLOG GN plates, which revealed high phenot...
The osmoregulatory responses of 20 days of acclimation to environmental salinities of 5‰, 15‰, 25‰, 35‰ and 55‰ were assessed in juveniles of wedge sole (Dicologoglossa cuneata Moreau, 1881). This sole shows a good capacity to adapt to this range of environmental salinities. A direct linear relationship between environmental salinity and plasma osm...
Physiological responses to a high stocking density were tested in juvenile wedge sole Dicologoglossa cuneata (Moreau). Fish were kept at low (1 kg m−2), medium (3 kg m−2) and high (9 kg m−2) stocking densities for 22 days. No differences in the weight, length, survival and hepatosomatic index were observed among treatments. Basal plasma cortisol an...
In the course of a histopathological survey performed to discover the cause of mass mortality of the striped clam Chamelea gallina in the Balearic Islands (Spain, Mediterranean Sea), we detected a Marteilia-like parasite in 3 clams. Molecular methods were applied to identify the parasite. DNA extracted from a paraffin block was used to carry out a...
Lysozymes are key proteins of the innate immune system against bacterial infections. In this study we report the molecular cloning and characterization of the c-type and g-type lysozymes in brill (Scophthalmus rhombus). Catalytic and other conserved residues required for functionality were identified. Phylogenetic analysis revealed distinct evoluti...
Marteilia refringens is a protozoan parasite recognized as a significant pathogen of the European flat oyster Ostrea edulis. It is believed to have a complex life-cycle involving several hosts. In this study, we applied molecular approaches to identify this parasite in samples of the razor clam Solen marginatus from the south west coast of Spain. W...
From a battery of microsatellite markers (100 loci), recently identified by our group, we have selected eight for parentage assignment in Senegal sole (Solea senegalensis). This tool is based on microsatellite loci obtained from four genomic DNA libraries and one cDNA library. Within the eight loci (six from anonymous genomic DNA sequences and two...
The wedge sole is a target species in the fisheries of the Gulf of Cadiz (Spain). Having reared them to commercial size, we
have studied reproduction and breeding in captivity of the wedge sole in this work here. The breeders adapt easily to captivity,
and they can spawn in less than 1year in captivity. The relative fecundity is relatively high, 1....
Here, a new satellite-DNA family is isolated and characterized from wedge sole, Dicologoglossa cuneata Moreau, 1881 (Pleuronectiformes), a fish having a small genome. This satellite-DNA family of sequences was isolated by conventional cloning after digestion of genomic DNA with the DraI restriction enzyme. Repeat units are 171 bp in length with a h...
This study reports egg production by captive wild brill Scophthalmus rhombus, a potential new flatfish species for Southern Europe-Mediterranean mariculture, as well as seasonal plasma levels of 17β–estradiol, testosterone, 11–ketotestosterone, proteins, triglycerides, glucose and lactate. A mean egg production of 102 800 eggs kg body weight−1 was...
Consumption rate and feeding success of newly hatched paralarvae of the cephalopod Octopus vulgaris preying on Artemia larvae were investigated in relation to visual conditions and prey density. Each paralarva was tested individually using
a small-scale experimental setup; consumption over one day was measured at 20°C. A factorial experiment was de...
Metal accumulation and some of their biochemical effects have been studied in oysters (Crassostrea angulata) and mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) of the South Atlantic Spanish littoral. Especial attention has been paid to antioxidant defences and oxidative damage to biomolecules. Deep differences in the response of oysters and mussels to metal p...
Fish coloration may affect its market value. The present paper compares growth, survival rate and pigmentation during the ongrowing of Senegal sole Solea senegalensis Kaup, 1858 on three different bottoms. This experiment lasted five months, and at the beginning fish were 4.93 ± 0.75 cm (length) and 1.91 ± 0.68 g (weight). No significant difference...
Marteilia refringens is a paramyxean parasite which infects the flat oyster Ostrea edulis and mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis), where it has been attributed to a separate species, Marteilia maurini, by several authors. Doubts persist though as to the existence or not of two species of Marteilia in Europe. We have devised a molecular method for t...
Due to their widespread distribution and virulence, protozoan species of the genus Perkinsus are especially worrisome parasites for shellfish farmers. In the present paper, we investigate the organization and the structural features of the nuclear ribosomal genes of Perkinsus atlanticus as well as the use of DNA sequence information from this regio...
Phagocytic and chemotactic activities of haemocytes from two clam species, Tapes decussatus andT. philippinarum have been studied using bacterial challenge. Three strains of Vibrio tapetis, the causative agent of the brown ring disease affecting these clam species, and one strain of Escherichia coli were used in the study. All extracellular product...
The potential transmission routes of Vibrio tapetis, the causative agent of the brown ring disease affecting manila clams, Tapes philippinarum, have been studied under laboratory conditions. The results obtained indicate that the most probable transmission route is by means of direct contact with infected clams. The main factors affecting the incid...
Gill and hemolymph assays for the thioglycollate diagnosis of Perkinsus atlanticus in clams (Ruditapes decussatus and Ruditapes philippinarum) were compared. Gills, hemolymph and the body remains from clams were separately incubated in fluid thioglycollate medium and stained with iodine solution. The intensity of infection was evaluated using the t...
Activation of arylamines to mutagenic metabolites by hepatic S9 fractions has been evaluated as a biomaker of fish exposure to pollutants, using gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), a valuable fish species from the Spanish South Atlantic littoral, as model organism. To obtain maximal sensitivity to the mutagenic action of aromatic amines, a strain of...
Metabolic activation of known promutagens by liver S9 fractions of Mugil sp. (grey mullet) from two zones of the South Atlantic Spanish littoral was determined and related to their pollution levels. Sediments from the putative contaminated area contained high concentrations of PAHs, PCBs and pesticides, and animals from the polluted site exhibited...
The most important natural beds and cultured zones of clams (Ruditapes decussatus, R. philippinarum, Venerupis pullastra and V. aureus) on the coast of Huelva (S.W. Spain) were sampled in March 1989. The distributions and prevalences of the different observed parasites are presented. Perkinsus atlanticus and Minchinia tapetis were the most worrying...
Three species of marine bivalve molluscs (Chamelea gallina, Ruditapes decussatus, and Crassostrea gigas) have been studied in order to evaluate the levels of pollution on the South Atlantic Spanish littoral. Several transition metals (Cu, As, Cd, Sn, Hg, Pb) were determined as a general index of total contamination. Animals from putative contaminat...