First evidence of Panulirus argus Virus 1 (PaV1) in spiny lobster from Cuba and clinical estimation of its prevalence

The present study documents the first finding of Panulirus argus Virus 1 (PaV1) in spiny lobster Panulirus argus from Cuba. Samples originated from 2 nursery sites, Matias Keys and Bocas de Alonso Keys, and 2 fishing sites, La Grifa and El Ramajo. Lobsters from the nursery sites (artificial reefs) were collected by SCUBA diving, while those from the fishing sites were collected from artificial shelters known as 'casitas cubanas'. In these shelters it was observed that healthy lobsters tended to avoid infected lobsters. Prevalence of PaV1 in the sampling sites was assessed by using clinical signs such as lethargy, an opaque reddish shell coloration, and milky white hemolymph with loss of clotting activity. The presence of PaV1 was subsequently confirmed by histology and PCR of tissues and hemolymph samples from suspected individuals. Histological sections of the hepatopancreas, gills, gonads, and gut showed infected hemocytes with hypertrophied nuclei and eosinophilic intranuclear Cowdry type A inclusions. A 499 bp band was observed by PCR. The sequence of the amplified fragments was 96% similar to the PaV1 sequence in GenBank. The overall mean prevalence of PaV1 was 4.48% (range: 0 to 9.3%) after pooling the results of the 4 sampling sites.