Molecular Characterization of spp. in Cultivated and Wild Marine Fishes from Western Mediterranean with the First Detection of Zoonotic .

Fish not only harbor host-specific species/genotypes of , but also species like zoonotic or anthroponotic , which can pose a risk for fish consumers. This study aims to investigate fish cryptosporidiosis in an important aquaculture and fishery area of the Western Mediterranean (Comunidad Valenciana, Spain). We analyzed 404 specimens belonging to the following three groups: cultivated fish (N = 147), wild synanthropic fish (N = 147) and wild fish from extractive fisheries (N = 110). Nested PCR targeting the 18S rRNA gene, followed by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, were performed. Positive isolates were also amplified at the actin gene locus. An overall prevalence of 4.2% was detected, with the highest prevalence in the synanthropic group (6.1%). was identified in thirteen specimens from seven different host species. Zoonotic was detected in two European sea bass (). One isolate similar to was detected in a cultivated meagre (), and one isolate, highly divergent from all the species/genotypes described, was identified from a synanthropic round sardinella (). This study contributes to increasing the molecular data on fish cryptosporidiosis, expanding the range of known hosts for and identifying, for the first time, zoonotic in edible marine fishes, pointing out a potential health risk.