One of the most prominent challenges for the safe cultivation and maintenance of animals is control of infectious diseases. A. ocellatum is a parasitic infection that impacts all fish within the wide environmental range resulting in mass moralities in captivity. With a broad host and geographic range, all fish in aquaculture ($10Bannually), aquarium trade species ($278M annually), 24 and conservation species ($7.6B), or a total of$18B annually are susceptible to A.ocellatum. Due to its rapid onset, there are often no signs of infestation before mortalities begin to appear within a system, making it imperative to diagnose and treat as early as possible. Current methodologies for detecting A.ocellatumare insufficient to circumvent outbreaks. This project proposes two innovative approaches to develop a successful rapid diagnostic test for A.ocellatum:(1)utilization of a Next Generation approach of producing highly specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for A.ocellatumdinospores and trophonts and (2)developing a standard operating procedure to pre-treat and concentrate aquarium water to enhance detection limits. On-farm testing as well as high sensitivity make this product novel in the industry and would make it an invaluable tool worldwide for aquaculture, aquarium, and aquatic conservation industries.
