Understanding myxozoan infection dynamics in the sea: Seasonality and transmission of Ceratomyxa puntazzi

Ceratomyxa puntazzi affects the sharpsnout seabream, Diplodus puntazzo , a recently explored aquaculture species in the Mediterranean. Little is known about the transmission and seasonality of marine myxozoans, although this knowledge is of considerable importance for the design of management strategies for aquaculture. In the present study on C. puntazzi we investigated the potential pathways of transmission as well as the parasite abundance in fish and its density in environmental water samples, throughout a full year. We performed monthly sentinel fish exposures in a C. puntazzi enzootic environment and quantified waterborne stages in seawater. Two novel C. puntazzi -specific PCR and quantitative PCR assays were developed to determine infection levels in fish and water samples. Ceratomyxa puntazzi presents marked seasonal changes in parasite density, with a double-peaked prevalence of infection in sentinel fish in spring and late summer/autumn, at 16–24 °C, and a covert infection during the winter months. Invasive blood stages were detected all year round by PCR. The combination of sentinel fish exposure with the quantification of waterborne stages allowed us to attribute this pattern in C. puntazzi density to higher numbers of actinospores in the water, while myxospores are predominant in summer and winter. We demonstrated that temperature increase triggered actinospore production in the invertebrate host in a benthic habitat and we suggest that the life cycle dynamics of the invertebrate host explain the double-peaked infection prevalence in fish. Experimental transmission of different C. puntazzi developmental stages in seawater or by oral and intracoelomic injection was unsuccessful which indicates fish-to-fish transmission is unlikely to occur in aquaculture systems. This is the first model studying seasonality and infection dynamics of a marine myxozoan.