Furthermore, many inclusion bodies were observed in the nodules of the diseased black rockfish by histopathology. The typical characteristics of LCD mainly show
intracytoplasmic inclusions in the lymphocytic cells. Moreover, our findings supported that viral particles of LCDV-ss were the causative agents, morphologically evidenced
by that numerous hexagonally arranged viral particles with a diameter
of 200 nm were observed in the nodules of infected fish. Based
on two core genes, our phylogenetic analysis indicated that LCDV-ss
was a novel isolate, like megalocytivirus, and it could cause disease in
black rockfish. In summary, we, for the first time, provided themolecular evidence of LCDV in black rockfish, and our findings would
greatly contribute to diagnosis and control of viral diseases in black
rockfish.