Detection of Viral Encephalopathy and Retinopathy Virus (VERV) in wild marine fish species of the South Tyrrhenian Sea (Central Mediterranean).

Fish nodaviruses have been reported to cause diseases in a wide variety of marine fish species in aquaculture worldwide. This study was aimed at determining the occurrence of Viral Encephalopathy and Retinopathy virus (VERV) in selected stocks of demersal fish species. The trawl survey was undertaken covering areas which included the Calabrian and the Sicilian coasts of the Tyrrhenian sea (South Italy). A stratified random sampling method was adopted. Pooled samples of brains from 315 specimens belonging to 13 fish species were examined for the presence of VERV by one step RT-PCR. VERV was found in Notacanthus bonapartei, Epigonus telescopus, Hymenocephalus italicus and Hoplostethus mediterraneus. In our knowledge this is the first report of VERV infection in these fish species. These results illustrate that some populations of demersal fish species in aquaculture areas are subclinically infected by VERV and suggesting an importance of such infected fish as a carrier or reservoir of Betanodaviruses.