HEMORRHAGIC AREAS IN THE MOUTH OF FARMED TURBOT, SCOPHTHALMUS-MAXIMUS(L)

An epizootic in juvenile turbot reared on a farm located in the Ria de Vivo, Galicia, Northwest Spain, is described. The diseased turbot did not display unusual swimming behaviour; the external signs of the dis case were abdominal distension and haemorrhagic areas in the mouth. In ternal examination of the fish showed an accumulation of reddish fluid in the peritoneal cavity. Microbiological analysis of the diseased fi sh revealed the presence, in pure culture in all the organs and lesion s examined, of a bacterium which was characterized biochemically as Vi brio splendidus biotype 1. The virulence tests showed that the V. sple ndidus biotype I isolate was pathogenic for rainbow trout (LD50: 2.2 x 10(4)) and also for turbot (LD50: 1.2 x 10(4)). The treatment of the fish using flumequine incorporated into the feed was effective in offs etting the mortality rate.