Department of Marine Biology, Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel.
Morris Kahn Marine Research Station, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel.
Viruses. 2020 Apr 10;12(4):430. doi: 10.3390/v12040430.
Viruses are among the most abundant and diverse biological components in the marine environment. In finfish, viruses are key drivers of host diversity and population dynamics, and therefore, their effect on the marine environment is far-reaching. Viral encephalopathy and retinopathy (VER) is a disease caused by the marine nervous necrosis virus (NNV), which is recognized as one of the main infectious threats for marine aquaculture worldwide. For over 140 years, the Suez Canal has acted as a conduit for the invasion of Red Sea marine species into the Mediterranean Sea. In 2016-2017, we evaluated the prevalence of NNV in two indigenous Mediterranean species, the round sardinella () and the white steenbras () versus two Lessepsian species, the Randall's threadfin bream () and the Lessepsian lizardfish (). A molecular method was used to detect NNV in all four fish species tested. In , a relatively newly established invasive species in the Mediterranean Sea, the prevalence was significantly higher than in both indigenous species. In , prevalence varied considerably between years. While the factors that influence the effective establishment of invasive species are poorly understood, we suggest that the susceptibility of a given invasive fish species to locally acquired viral pathogens such as NVV may be important, in terms of both its successful establishment in its newly adopted environment and its role as a reservoir 'host' in the new area.
病毒是海洋环境中最丰富和最多样化的生物组成部分之一。在鱼类中，病毒是宿主多样性和种群动态的关键驱动因素，因此，它们对海洋环境的影响是深远的。病毒性脑脊髓炎和视网膜病变 (VER) 是由海洋神经坏死病毒 (NNV) 引起的一种疾病，该病毒被认为是全球海水养殖的主要传染性威胁之一。 苏伊士运河作为红海海洋物种入侵地中海的通道已有 140 多年的历史。2016-2017 年，我们评估了两种本地地中海物种（圆沙丁鱼（）和白鲷（））与两种 Lessepsian 物种（兰氏小鳍鲈（）和 Le 氏蜥鱼（））中 NNV 的流行率。使用分子方法检测了所有四种鱼类中 NNV 的存在。在 ，一种相对较新的入侵地中海物种，其流行率明显高于两种本地物种。在 ，流行率在不同年份有很大差异。尽管影响入侵物种有效建立的因素尚不清楚，但我们认为，给定入侵鱼类物种对当地获得的病毒病原体（如 NNV）的易感性可能很重要，无论是在其新采用的环境中的成功建立方面，还是在新地区作为“宿主”的作用方面。
