Mass mortality of the keratose sponge Sarcotragus foetidus in the Aegean Sea (Eastern Mediterranean) correlates with proliferation of Vibrio bacteria in the tissues.

ABSTRACT: In the last two decades, episodes of mass mortality in benthic communities have often been associated with climatic anomalies, but the ultimate mechanisms through which they lead to death have rarely been identified. This study reports a mass mortality of wild sponges in the Aegean Sea (Turkey, Eastern Mediterranean), which affected the keratose demosponge Sarcotragus foetidus in September 2021. We examined the occurrence of thermo-dependent bacteria of the genus Vibrio in the sponges, identified through 16S rRNA of colonies isolated from sponge tissue in specific culturing media. Six Vibrio sequences were identified from the sponges, three of them being putatively pathogenic (V. fortis, V. owensii, V. gigantis). Importantly, those Vibrios were iso

SUBMITTER: Dincturk E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10722426 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature