A Severe Microsporidian Disease in Cultured Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus L.)

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Tissue Distribution of Mercury and Its Relationship with Selenium in Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus L.)

Mercury (Hg) is an important heavy metal to consider in marine predators, while selenium (Se) has a natural antagonistic effect on this metal in fish. The Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT, Thunnus thynnus) is a pelagic top-level predator of the trophic web and their Hg muscular content is an object of concern in food safety. Nevertheless, little is known about levels of this metal in remaining tissues, which may be important as by-product source, and its relationship with Se. Thus, concentration of both elements in liver, kidney, brain, gill and bone, in addition to muscle, of ABFT were determined. The kidney was the tissue with the highest concentration of Hg (Total-Hg, THg) and Se, and the Se/THg concentration ratio was similar in all tissues, except bone and muscle. The Selenium Health Benefit Value (HBVSe) was positive in each specimen and tissue, indicating that the Se plays an important role against Hg not only in the muscle.

Active prey selection in developing larvae of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in spawning grounds of the Gulf of Mexico

Bluefin tuna spawn in restricted areas of subtropical oligotrophic seas. Here, we investigate the zooplankton prey and feeding selectivity of early larval stages of Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABT, Thunnus thynnus) in larval rearing habitat of the Gulf of Mexico. Larvae and zooplankton were collected during two multi-day Lagrangian experiments during peak spawning in May 2017 and 2018. Larvae were categorized by flexion stage and standard length. We identified, enumerated and sized zooplankton from larval gut contents and in the ambient community. Ciliates were quantitatively important (up to 9%) in carbon-based diets of early larvae. As larvae grew, diet composition and prey selection shifted from small copepod nauplii and calanoid copepodites to larger podonid cladocerans, which accounted for up to 70% of ingested carbon. Even when cladoceran abundances were <0.2 m−3, they comprised 23% of postflexion stage diet. Feeding behaviors of larvae at different development stages were more specialized, and prey selection narrowed to appendicularians and primarily cladocerans when these taxa were more abundant. Our findings suggest that ABT larvae have the capacity to switch from passive selection, regulated by physical factors, to active selection of presumably energetically optimal prey.

A Severe Microsporidian Disease in Cultured Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus L.)

One of the most promising aquaculture species is the Atlantic bluefin tuna ( Thunnus thynnus ) with high market value; disease control is crucial to prevent and reduce mortality and monetary losses. Microsporidia Balbiani, 1882 (Fungi) are a potential source of damage to bluefin tuna aquaculture. A new microsporidian species is described from farmed bluefin tunas from the Spanish Mediterranean. This new pathogen is described in a juvenile associated with a highly severe pathology of the visceral cavity. Whitish xenomes from this microsporidian species were mostly located at the caecal mass and ranged from 0.2 to 7.5 mm. Light and transmission electron microscopy of the spores revealed mature spores with an average size of 2.2 × 3.9 μm in size and a polar filament with 13–14 coils arranged in one single layer. Phylogenetic analysis clustered this species with the Glugea spp. clade. The morphological characteristics and molecular comparison confirm that this is a novel microsporidian species, Glugea thunni sp. nov. The direct life cycle and the severe pathologies observed makes this parasite a hard risk for bluefin tuna cultures.

Stock-of-origin catch estimation of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) based on observed spatial distributions

Atlantic bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, are a highly migratory fish with high commercial and recreational value, currently managed as two major stocks with known spatial separation during spawning in the Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean Sea. The stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna exhibit a high degree of intermixing during foraging, making it difficult to assess the abundance and status of individual populations. Current assessment methods rely on a few annual surveys and are unable to make full use of the extensive available catch data. In this study, we used movement patterns from a multi-decadal tagging dataset to create monthly distribution maps for the stocks, which we then use to separate the overall catch records into stock-specific removals. We identified an increase in the past two decades in the proportion of catch estimated to come from Mediterranean stock, attributable to a decrease in catch-per-unit-effort in regions dominated by Gulf of Mexico stock relative to other regions. The stock-specific catch series can be used to improve the accuracy of stock assessments and inform spatial management.

Bioeconomic-Epidemiological Model of Scomber colias Population in the Moroccan Coasts

In this paper, we develop and study a mathematical model for the dynamics of Scomber colias and Thunnus thynnus prey-predator with parasitic helminths. We search to analyze a bioeconomic model in which both susceptible and infected prey populations Scomber colias are exposed to the predator Thunnus thynnus, with varying degrees of exposure. However, the predator feeds preferentially on the most numerous prey types. This implies a kind of switching from the susceptible class to the infected class, and vice versa, as these two types of prey change in numerical superiority. So, the positivity, boundedness, equilibria, stability, and bioeconomic equilibrium are studied. Some numerical simulation of stability is cited. For giving a high yield and keeping the Scomber colias and Thunnus thynnus populations away from extension, we use the Maximum Principle of Pontryagin.