Enteromyxum leei information

Enteromyxum leei
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Class:	Myxosporea
Order:	Bivalvulida
Family:	Myxidiidae
Genus:	Enteromyxum
Species:	E. leei
Binomial name
Enteromyxum leei (Diamant, Lom & Dyková, 1994)
Synonyms
Myxidium leei Diamant, Lom & Dyková, 1994[1]

Enteromyxum leei is a species of myxozoan,^[1] histozoic parasite that infects the intestinal tract and sometimes associated organs, like gall bladder and liver, of several teleostean fish species. Myxozoans are microscopic metazoans, with an obligate parasitic life-style. The parasite stages of this species live in the paracelullar space between fish enterocytes. It is the causative agent of enteromyxosis, or emaciative disease, also known as "razor blade syndrome" in sparid fish. E. leei has a wide host and geographical range within marine fish (at least 60 species from 22 different families, mainly Perciforms), and even freshwater fish have been infected experimentally. E. leei initially emerged in the Mediterranean in the late 1980s and it is believed to have been unintentionally introduced into the Red Sea.^[2][3] Its pathogenicity and economic impact depend on the host species. In the gilt-head seabream, it is manifested as a chronic disease that provokes anorexia, delayed growth with weight loss, cachexia, reduced marketability and increased mortality. In other species, it has no clinical signs. In sharpsnout seabream, infection results in very high mortality rates, which have pushed fish farmers to abandon the culture of this fish species.