The classic epidemiological triangle model of host—environment—pathogen is recently being reshaped into a tetrahedron, with the growing understanding of the importance of the microbiome in this array. The gills, being a gateway into the fish body, bearing an important role in fish homeostasis, host a complex microbiome that reflects the ambient water, while also showing resemblance to gut microbiome. Next‐generation sequencing...

The Eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS) is oligotrophic, presenting low biological production and high temperature and salinity, while comprising a biodiversity hotspot, with a unique emblematic threatened species array, including sea turtles. The establishment of healthy captive green turtle ( Chelonia mydas ) baseline blood analyte reference intervals (RIs) will contribute to improving diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and co...

Infectious diseases caused by marine bacterial pathogens inflict increasing economic losses to fisheries and aquaculture, while also posing a growing risk to public health and affected species conservation. In this study, four wild marine fish species were collected at five fishing sites in Israel, divided into two regions—north (Acre, Haifa, Shefayim) and center-south (Tel-Aviv and Ashdod), and screened for Photobacterium dam...

Bacterial diseases of marine fish inflict significant economic damage to fisheries and aquaculture and pose an increasing risk to public health. When addressing fish disease, an accumulating body of research suggests adding another factor to the classic epidemiological triangle of host-environment-pathogen: the microbiome. The gills, being a gateway into the fish body and bearing an important role in fish homeostasis, have bee...

Marine wildlife stranding is a global phenomenon, and for some taxonomic groups, these events are well monitored and documented. Although sharks are among the most threatened vertebrates, strandings have historically been neglected, with little information on this topic currently available. To address this knowledge gap, a systematic review on scientific publications from indexed databases, multimedia material and citizen scie...

Streptococcosis is an infectious bacterial disease of both homeotherms and poikilotherms. Among the Streptococcus species that infect marine animals, Streptococcus agalactiae has the broadest host spectrum, including different aquatic organisms in freshwater and marine environments. The common dolphin ( Delphinus delphis ) is categorized as Endangered in the Mediterranean Sea. There are few reports of a streptococcal infection...

Fleas are acknowledged vectors and reservoirs of various bacteria that present a wide range of pathogenicity. In this study, fleas collected from wild rodents from the Negev desert in southern Israel were tested for Rickettsia DNA by targeting the 16S rRNA ( rrs) gene. Thirty‐eight Xenopsylla ramesis , 91 Synosternus cleopatrae and 15 Leptopsylla flea pools (a total of 568 fleas) were screened. Rickettsia DNA was detected in 1...

Pathogens use diverse pathways to infect host populations by vertical and/or horizontal routes. Horizontal transmission of bacteria belonging to the B artonella genus via haematophagous vectors is well known. Vertical transmission of B artonella species was also suggested to occur but its routes remain to be unveiled. In a previous study, we showed the absence of transovarial transmission of B artonella species OE 1‐1 in X eno...