Vibrio splendidus related-strain isolated from brown deposit in scallop (Pecten maximus) cultured in Brittany (France)

Abstract

In 1996, a brood-stock of three year old scallop (Pecten maximus) conditioned at the hatchery of Argenton (Brittany, France) exhibited severe disease signs including deposits on the inner shell. Dominant bacterial flora strains were isolated from deposit of the diseased animals and purified. The phenotypic and genotypic features identified these strains as Vibrio splendidus-related strains. In experimental infection of the diseased animals, brown deposit vibrio (BDV) was able to reproduce the disease and could be isolated again from deposit. However, some control animals exhibited the same symptom and the BDV was frequently isolated from those and inlet seawater. Finally, though BDV could be reasonably suspected to colonise specifically the inner shell and to aggravate the symptoms, it was not possible to conclude definitively on its degree of virulence.