Vibrio splendidus-related strain isolated from brown deposit in scallop (Pecten maximus) cultured in Brittany (France).

In 1996, a brood-stack of three year old scallops (Pecten maximus) conditio ned at the hatchery of Argenton (Brittany, France) exhibited severe disease signs including brown deposits on the inner shell. Dominant bacterial stra ins were isolated from brown deposits of the diseased animals and purified. The phenotypic and genotypic features identified these strains as Vibrio s plendidus-related strains. In experimental infection, BDV was able to repro duce the disease and could be isolated again from brown deposit. However, s ome control animals exhibited the same symptom and the BDV was frequently i solated from those and inlet sea water. Finally, though BDV could be reason ably suspected to colonise specifically the inner shell and to aggravate th e symptoms, it was not possible to conclude definitively on its degree of v irulence.