Gill histopathology of cultured European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax (L.), infected with Diplectanum aequans (Wagener 1857) Diesing 1958 (Diplectanidae: Monogenea)

The mortality of juvenile European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax (L.), in the spring of the last five years in the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea has been attributed to heavy infections of the gill monogenean Diplectanum aequans (Wagener, 1857) Diesing, 1858. The histopathological examination of 38 sets of gills from hosts measuring 16.46 ± 0.26 cm in total length (mean ± S.E.) and weighing 45.98 ± 2.37 g (mean ± S.E.) were conducted using light and transmission electron microscopy. Twenty-eight (73.6%) D. labrax specimens were infected (34.61 ± 4.42, mean intensity ± S.E.; 5-100, range) with the majority of D. aequans attaching to the median and apical portions of the primary gill filaments. The sites of attachment were marked by the common presence of haemorrhages and a white mucoid exudate. In histological sections, the opisthaptors of the parasites were observed to penetrate deeply, lying in close proximity to the basal membrane of primary lamella where they induced a hyperplastic response. Disruption and fusion of the secondary lamellae were common in all infected specimens with several individuals also exhibiting a marked erosion and inflammation of the epithelium of the primary and secondary lamellae. In infected fish, cellular changes in the epithelium underlying the bodies of worms were noted typified by an elevation in the number of mucous and rodlet cells and a reduction in the number of chloride cells.