Abstract
Vibrio vulnificus, a zoonotic bacterial pathogen was isolated for the first time from kidneys of black scorpionfish Scorpaena porcus collected from the south Mediterranean basin (western coast of Tripoli, Libya) during the early summer of 2013. Fish exhibited typical signs of Vibriosis with furuncle like lesions, skin hemorrhages, fin rot and congested spleen. The abdominal cavity, liver, intestinal wall, and gonads were suffering from mild larval nematode infection. Interestingly, a huge portion of the kidney tissue was replaced with the anisakids nematode Anisakis pegreffi. This is considered the first report ofV. vulnificus / A. pegreffi in the Mediterranean black scorpionfish. The identities of the retrieved V. vulnificus isolates were confirmed using morpho-chemical and molecular tools. The research lead us to conclude that the deteriorated nature of the sewage polluted seawater at the western coast of Tripoli could have played a detrimental role in facilitating the invasion with the two diverse etiological agents (V. vulnificus and A.pegreffi) . We also hypothesize that V. vulnificus was lodged within nematode worms or at one of its life stages before invading fish intestine with consequent spread into other internal organs during its visceral larval migration stage.