• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.624-629
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• 2017

A rainbow trout Onchorhynchus mykiss farm located in Gangwon province, South Korea, experienced approximately 10% mortality in June 2017. Most diseased fish had a markedly distended, gas-filled stomach, and exhibited abnormal behavior at the water surface. In this study, we attempted to identify the cause of stomach distension syndrome in those rainbow trout. The stomach of most of the affected fish were full of unidentified gases and some exudate, and yeast was isolated from the stomach mucosa. Pure cultures of yeast were identified using a multilocus sequence typing scheme based on 18S rRNA, internal transcribed spacers, large subunit rRNA, and the gene encoding the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB1). The RPB1 gene sequences were compared with those of related species available in a database. The yeast was identified as Scheffersomyces coipomoensis (Candida coipomoensis) based on sequence analyses. This is the first study to reveal that Sch. coipomoensis is a potential causative agent of stomach distension syndrome in farmed rainbow trout. Our results will be helpful for future related studies, and indicate that farmers and stakeholders should observe this emerging disease closely.