Detection of Japanese Eel Endothelial Cells-infecting Virus (JEECV) in mature Japanese Eel anguilla japonica caught from their spawning area

Abstract

We examined the infection of Japanese eel endothelial cells-infecting virus (JEECV), which is the agent of viral endothelial cells necrosis (VECNE), in Japanese eels caught from the southern part of West Mariana Ridge in 2013 to know the infection status of the virus in their spawning area. JEECV was detected in the gills from a female out of five mature male and female fish by both quantitative and conventional PCRs. Additionally, the predicted polyomavirus large T like protein of the detected virus was different by one amino acid from that of the virus from farmed eels with VECNE.