Viral nervous necrosis in hatchery‐reared larvae and juveniles of Japanese parrotfish, Oplegnathus fasciatus (Temminck & Schlegel)

Abstract. Mass mortalities of hatchery‐reared Japanese parrotfish larvae and juveniles, Oplegnathus fasciatus (Temminck & Schlegel), have occurred in Nagasaki Prefecture. Light and electron microscopic examinations showed that the only consistent histopathological feature was extensive nervous necrosis in the spinal cord, spinal ganglia and brain. Numerous non‐enveloped virus particles, icosahedral in morphology and measuring about 34 nm in diameter, were found in the cytoplasm of affected neurones and glial cells. Such nervous necrosis is believed to be the major cause of the mass mortalities of hatchery‐reared Japanese parrotfish larvae and juveniles.