Hemocytic enteritis in Litopenaeus vannamei (Crustacea Decapoda) raised in low salinity water in Tamaulipas, Mexico

Abstract

The present study assessed the presence of hemocytic enteritis in Litopenaeus vannamei from a shrimp farm which uses semi-intensive culture with underground low salinity water, located at an urban zone of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Histopathological analyses showed characteristic lesions of hemocytic enteritis with a prevalence of 4.0\% (12/300). Lesions were observed in midgut epithelium, showing accumulation of hemocytic cells, causing diffuse hemocytic infiltration throughout the gut wall, and were associated with epithelial necrosis and inflammation. The hepatopancreas was also affected, displaying focal pyknotic nuclei with quasi-geometric shape in hepatopancreas tubules. These clinical signs were present in all affected organisms and suggest toxicity resulting from Benomyl (R) with contamination occurring either directly and/or indirectly via the water source for the shrimp farm which is located in the most important and productive zone of sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) in the northeast of Mexico. This constitutes the first report of hemocytic enteritis in the coastal zone of the Gulf of Mexico.