Abstract
A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was developed to detect Myxobolus acanthogobii, a myxozoan parasite causing skeletal deformities in marine fishes. The PCR system targeting SSU rDNA of M. acanthogobii was confirmed to be species-specific; the detection limits of a single-and a nested-PCR were 1 and 0.01 pg DNA, respectively. Nested-PCR analyses were applied to epizootiological surveys of M. acanthogobii in cultured Japanese mackerel Scomber japonicus and in feral fishes (37 species). Three wild fishes, forksnout searobin Lepidotrigla alata, crimson seabream Evynnis japonica and scribbled toby Canthigaster rivulata, were found to be the hosts for M. acanthogobii.
