Coronaviruses in Aquatic Organisms

Members of the family Coronaviridae are evolutionarily related and play an important role in human and veterinary medicine. Taxonomic classification is based on the ultrastructure and morphogenesis of viral particles and on biochemical and molecular features. The family Coronaviridae belongs to the order Nidovirales, and is divided into two subfamilies: Coronavirinae and Torovirinae. The number of coronaviruses isolated from aquatic organisms is negligible; indeed, coronaviruses have only been identified in aquatic mammals, including harbor seal (genus Alphacoronavirus), bottlenose dolphin and beluga whale (genus Gammacoronavirus). White bream virus, isolated from the teleost Blicca bjoerkna (L.), is the type species of the genus Bafinivirus within the subfamily, Torovirinae.