Bonaire, Marine Biology, Vibrio Bacteria, The Sudden Death of Mooray

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a curved, rod-shaped, Gram-negative bacterium found in brackish^[1]saltwater, which, when ingested, causes gastrointestinal illness in humans.^[1]?

Outbreaks tend to be concentrated along coastal regions during the summer and early fall when higher water temperatures favor higher levels of bacteria. Seafood most often implicated includes squid, mackerel, tuna, sardines, crab, shrimp, and bivalves, such as oysters and clams. As the vast majority of cases of V. parahaemolyticus food infection are self-limiting, treatment is not typically necessary. In severe cases, fluid and electrolyte replacement is indicated.^[2]

Additionally, swimming or working in affected areas can lead to infections of the eyes, ears,^[8] or open cuts and wounds. Following Hurricane Katrina, 22 wounds were infected with Vibrio, three of which were caused by V. parahaemolyticus, and two of these led to death. (SRC:Wikipedia).

In Bonaire, several deaths of Moray Eels were observed in November 2008.

REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION OF A MORAY EEL MORTALITY IN BONAIRE.

Ernest H.(Bert) Williams, Jr., Department of Marine Sciences.
Lucy Bunkley-Williams, Department of Biology.

In July moray eels began dying in Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. We were notified and Bert was invited by Ramon de Leon of Bonaire National Marine Park, STINAPA, and Rita Peachey of CIEE Research Station to investigate. Rita had already conducted a number of necropsies and Ramon and Jerry Login were keeping summaries of the mortalities.

Bert traveled from Mayag?ez in western Puerto Rico, to San Juan, and to Bonaire 21 October 2008. CIEE had been obtaining rather fresh eels for necropsies, but while he was there, they only obtained decomposed ones that were not much use for isolating a pathogen.

Two dead eels were reported, but not collected almost in front of the lab 22 October. When they received no new cases on 23 October, Rita and Bert snorkeled in the area for 1.5 hrs looking for dead eels.

?Roberto Hensen and Mark Vermeij examined moray eels form a similar mortality that occurred in Bonaire in 1995. Eric Newton gave Bert Roberto?s e-mail address. Bert contacted Roberto about the kill. Ramon also e-mailed Roberto and contacted Mark. Roberto remembered little about the mortality except that it was relatively short. Mark remembered that the eels had head and lateral line lesions. We need to know what time of the year the mortalities occurred, where in Bonaire, which species of moray eels died, and how many. Roberto thought there was a report, but could not find a copy?

?In cooperation with Ramon and Jerry, we have assembled a list of 75 individual fish that died. Most (65, 93.3%) of these were morays (Family Muraenidae) and snake eels (Family Ophichthidae) (43 Spotted Moray, Gymnothorax moringa; 13 Green Moray, Gymnothorax funebris; 7 Mulatto Conger [Viper Moray], Enchelycore nigricans; 4 Sharptail Eel, Myrichthys breviceps; 1 Chain Moray, Echidna catenata; 1 Goldentail Moray, Gymnothorax miliaris; 1 Purplemouth Moray, Gymnothorax vicinus). A few (5, 6.7%) were other species (2 parrotfish [Family Scaridae], 1 Creole Wrasse, Clepticus parrae [Family Labridae]; 1 French Angelfish, Pomacanthus paru [Family Pomacanthidae]; 1 Yellowtail Snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus [Family Lutjanidae]). We are still trying to create a complete list with all the records recorded by Ramon and Jerry, to confirm all of the identifications (such as the ?parrotfish? above), record the latitude and longitudes of each locality, and list the those observers who reported each dead fish?

?The eels were being affected by a bacteria, called Vibrio. One of the species of this genus is the causative agent in human cholera. It seems pretty gruesome for any creature to be infected with this type of bacteria, which causes all stomach contents to liquefy, and abdominal pain with bleeding from the gastro-intestinal tract, rapid loss of water from the system, and in extreme cases, death.

SRC: http://www.bonairediveandadventure.com/naturalist/0109.html

?2012 Olivier Douvry/GlobeDivers

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Tagged as: 1995, 1995-2008, 2008, bacteria, Bonaire, Cholera, conger, eels, Marine Biology, mooray, Moray Eels, spotted mooray eels, The Death of Mooray Heels, The sudden Death of Mooray Eels, vibrio, Vibrio Bacteria

Source: http://globedivers.org/2012/07/17/bonaire-marine-biology-vibrio-bacteria-the-death-of-mooray-heels-1995-2008/

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