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The aim of this study is to report the occurrence of Lymphocystivirusin Brazilian ornamental fish. From 25 ornamental fish species submitted for molecular diagnosis, only one sample (Pomacanthus imperator) was positive, and its viral nucleotide sequence obtained clustered with sequences of genotype VII. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the genetic characterization of Lymphocystivirusin Brazil.

Cyprinid herpesvirus 3has a worldwide distribution and presents high mortality rates in species of Cyprinus carpio, causing serious economic loss to the global aquaculture industry. The description of this infection in other ornamental fish species is still limited. For this purpose, 100 ornamental fish from 24 different species were tested by PCR for Cyprinid hespesvirus 3and the positive samples represented 6% of the tested samples. Phylogenetic reconstruction, based on the Thymidine Kinase gene, revealed the existence of two distinct clades. One clade grouped a Brazilian sample with European and Asian genotypes of CyHV-3 and a second clade, containing only Brazilian sequences described in this study. All of the Brazilian sequences showed identity values greater than 97.7% when compared to each other. This is the first report of the occurrence of Cyprinid herpesvirus 3in ornamental fish species in Brazil. These results in association with further studies of viral isolation and characterization can help in establishing effective surveillance and disease control program.