ABSTRACT: Disease caused by parasitic amoebae impacts a range of aquatic organisms including finfish, crustaceans, echinoderms and molluscs. Despite the significant economic impact caused in both aquaculture and fisheries, the aetiology of most aquatic amoebic diseases is uncertain, which then affects diagnosis, treatment and prevention. The main factors hampering research effort in this area are the confusion around amoeba taxonomy and the difficulty proving that a particular species causes specific lesions. These issues stem from morphological and genetic similarities between cryptic species and technical challenges such as establishing and maintaining pure amoeba cultures, scarcity of Amoebozoa sequence data, and the inability to trigger pathogenesis under experimental conditions. This review provides a critical analysis of how amoebae are commonly identified and defined as aetiological agents of disease in aquatic animals and highlights gaps in the available knowledge regarding determining pathogenic Amoebozoa.

中文翻译：

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确定水生动物阿米巴病的病因：趋势、障碍和最佳实践

摘要：由寄生变形虫引起的疾病会影响一系列水生生物，包括有鳍鱼、甲壳类动物、棘皮动物和软体动物。尽管对水产养殖和渔业都造成了重大的经济影响，但大多数水生阿米巴病的病因尚不确定，进而影响诊断、治疗和预防。阻碍该领域研究工作的主要因素是对变形虫分类学的混淆以及难以证明特定物种会导致特定病变。这些问题源于神秘物种之间的形态和遗传相似性以及技术挑战，例如建立和维持纯变形虫培养物、变形虫序列数据的稀缺以及在实验条件下无法触发发病机制。