Short communication: recovery of Vibrio vulnificus from head ulceration in seahorse (Hippocampus kuda)

Head ulceration disease is one of the major causes of mortality in Hippocampus kuda large-scale culture. Four culturable bacteria strains were isolated from H. kuda specimens suffered from head ulceration disease. Challenge experiments with these strains using healthy H. kuda showed that the isolate named DC1 induced identical clinical and pathological symptoms and that it likely to be the causal agent of the disease. According to the morphological characteristics, physiological and biochemical properties, and 16S rRNA sequences, the isolate DC1 was identified as Vibrio vulnificus. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the V. vulnificus isolated from the head ulceration diseased seahorse. Further studies need to be focused on optimal environmental parameters as well as prevention and treatment methods for better and sustainable seahorse farming.