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Characterization Of A Rediscovered Haplosporidian Parasite From Cultured Penaeus Vannamei, Lm Nunam, Dv Lightner, Cr Pantoja, Na Stokes, Kimberly S. Reece

VIMS Articles

Mortalities of Penaeus vannamei, cultured in ponds in Belize, Central America, began during the last part of the grow-out cycle during the cold weather months from September 2004 through February 2005. Tissue squashes of infected hepatopancreata and histological examination of infected shrimp revealed that the mortalities might have been caused by an endoparasite. To confirm the diagnosis, DNA was extracted from ethanol preserved hepatopancreata and the small-subunit rRNA gene was sequenced. The 1838 by sequence was novel and phylogenetic analysis placed the P. vannamei parasite within the phylum Haplosporidia as a sister taxon to a clade that includes Bonamia and …