Trash fish can be a source of betanodaviruses for cultured marine fish

A total of 360 samples of trash fish/mollusk used for feeding cultured marine fish were collected from 4 stations of National Research Institute of Aquaculture, Fisheries Research Agency, Japan. The brain or eyes of the samples were examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and nested PCR assays to detect the coat protein gene of betanodavirus. Two species of trash fish/mollusk samples: Japanese jack mackerel Trachrus japonicus and Japanese common squid Todarodes pacificus were positive for betanodavirus and the sequences of the nested PCR products (177 nucleotides) of these two species were closely related (98%) to the redspotted grouper nervous necrosis virus (RGNNV) genotype. Sevenband grouper Epinephelus septemfasciatus were intramuscularly injected (106 TCID50/fish) with betanodavirus isolates from trash fish/mollusk samples. The fish displayed abnormalities typical of viral nervous necrosis (VNN) infection, and mortalities ranged from 90 to 100%. These results suggest that trash fish/mollusk can be a source of betanodaviruses for cultured fish and that they pose a serious risk for outbreaks of VNN in susceptible cultured fish.