Advances in Pathology of Aquatic Animals

A special issue of Fishes (ISSN 2410-3888). This special issue belongs to the section "Fish Pathology and Parasitology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 1658

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo, Unidad Mazatlán en Acuicultura y Manejo Ambiental, Sinaloa, Mexico
Interests: fish histopathology; nutritional pathology; aquatic toxicology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aquaculture must provide protein for the increased human population in the following decades. However, this industry faces many challenges, such as climate change, pollution, and diseases. As observed by the FAO, diseases are an important factor that reduce aquaculture productivity, resulting in millions of USD of losses and thousands of tonnes of less food. With the advances in biotechnology and multidisciplinary scientific research, we can find possible solutions to these challenges through the improvement of diets, the use of new analysis technologies such as omics sciences, the use of novel treatments, artificial intelligence, new advances in the knowledge, and the recognition of the importance of microbiota.

This Special Issue aims to receive research on aspects such as the effects of climate change and pollution on the outbreaks of diseases, the novelty of the importance of microbiota, nutritional diseases, and the immune system, the progress in genomic studies related to diseases, and emerging technologies in fish farming that reduce the risk of health problems, such as the use of functional additives.

Prof. Dr. Maria Cristina Chávez-Sánchez
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • disease responses to nutritional and environmental stress (pollution and climate change)
  • host–pathogen interactions and novel treatments
  • genomic approaches to infectious diseases
  • host–microbiota and immune responses
  • emerging technologies in fish farming health and welfare (diagnostic, prevention, biosensors, AI, etc.)
  • functional supplements/additives in aquatic animal health

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 4176 KB  
Article
Lysozyme Activity in the Hemolymph of Octopus vulgaris (Cuvier, 1797) Following Challenge with Gram-Negative Bacteria: Insights into Temperature-Driven Innate Immune Response
by Daniella-Mari White, Eleni Anastasiadou, Michail-Aggelos Valsamidis and Vasileios Bakopoulos
Fishes 2025, 10(9), 428; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes10090428 - 1 Sep 2025
Viewed by 335
Abstract
As aquaculture expands globally, understanding immune responses in non-traditional farmed species like Octopus vulgaris under varying environmental conditions is increasingly important. This study investigated lysozyme activity, a key innate immune marker, in cell-free hemolymph of O. vulgaris following experimental challenge with four Gram-negative [...] Read more.
As aquaculture expands globally, understanding immune responses in non-traditional farmed species like Octopus vulgaris under varying environmental conditions is increasingly important. This study investigated lysozyme activity, a key innate immune marker, in cell-free hemolymph of O. vulgaris following experimental challenge with four Gram-negative fish pathogens (Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida, P. damselae subsp. damselae, Vibrio alginolyticus, and V. anguillarum O1) at two temperatures (21 ± 0.5 °C and 24 ± 0.5 °C). These pathogens were selected because octopus farming frequently occurs near fish aquaculture facilities, raising the potential for pathogen crossover. A total of 216 wild octopuses were injected intramuscularly or intravenously and sampled on days 0, 3, and 7 post-challenge. Lysozyme activity varied by pathogen, injection route, sampling time, and temperature. A significant time- and temperature-dependent increase was observed, especially in IM-challenged groups exposed to Photobacterium species. Elevated temperatures supported a more prolonged immune response. These results highlight lysozyme as a responsive biomarker of innate immunity in O. vulgaris and emphasize the role of environmental factors in immune modulation. This work provides a foundation for disease monitoring and health management in cephalopod aquaculture. Future research should examine long-term lysozyme dynamics, broader pathogen exposure, molecular mechanisms, and additional environmental stressors such as salinity and pollution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Pathology of Aquatic Animals)
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14 pages, 1271 KB  
Article
Selection of Reference Genes by Quantitative Real-Time PCR in Different Cell Lines from Humpback Grouper (Cromileptes altivelis)
by Xiangyu Du, Han Zhang, Longfei Zhu, Zhenjie Cao, Chen Zhang, Ying Wu, Yongcan Zhou and Yun Sun
Fishes 2024, 9(12), 491; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes9120491 - 30 Nov 2024
Viewed by 974
Abstract
Humpback grouper (Cromileptes altivelis) is an economically important fish, but the increasing density of its farming has led to more severe disease outbreaks. To address this challenge, we established brain (CAB) and kidney (CAK) cell lines in our laboratory previously, providing [...] Read more.
Humpback grouper (Cromileptes altivelis) is an economically important fish, but the increasing density of its farming has led to more severe disease outbreaks. To address this challenge, we established brain (CAB) and kidney (CAK) cell lines in our laboratory previously, providing a valuable tool for in vitro studies on immune responses. In this study, we used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to identify the optimal reference gene from six reference genes for CAB and CAK cells, under both normal conditions and after stimulation with LPS or Poly I: C. The qRT-PCR data were analyzed using geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper software (Version 3.5) to ensure comprehensve evaluation. The results showed that RPL13 was the most stable reference gene for both CAB and CAK cells under normal conditions. Following LPS stimulation, TTLL1 was the best reference gene for CAB cells, while RPL13 remained the most suitable for CAK cells. For Poly I: C stimulation, EF1A and Actin were identified as the most stable reference genes for CAB and CAK cells, respectively. To confirm the reliability of the selected reference genes, we analyzed the expression of the cytokine genes IL-6 and IFN-h, demonstrating the dependability of these reference genes. This study lays a solid foundation for exploring gene expression patterns in humpback grouper cell lines under various experimental conditions, providing essential insights for future research into immune processes and disease control strategies in aquaculture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Pathology of Aquatic Animals)
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