Parasitic diseases of fish such as Ichthyophonus, Nanophyetus salmincola, and whirling diseases pose a significant threat to fish populations.
Ichthyophonus is one of the most significant parasites of wild marine fishes, causing recurring population-level impacts during the past century.
Nanophyetus salmincola is a freshwater parasite that infects snails as its first host, then fish as the second host, and finally birds and mammals and its primary host.
Nucleospora salmonis is a microsporidian parasite that infects the hematopoietic cells of salmonid fishes causing a leukemia-like condition. Infections have been reported in salmon and trout species.
Whirling disease is an infection of trout caused by the Myxobolus cerebralis parasite. The parasite penetrates the head and spinal cartilage putting pressure on the organ of equilibrium. This causes fish to swim erratically.
Ichthyobodosis is caused by the flagellate parasite Ichthyobodo necator. The parasite is found globally and infects freshwater and marine fishes. The parasite attaches to the gills and skin of the fish.
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Assessing causes of mortality for endangered juvenile Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) in mesocosms in Upper Klamath Lake, south-central Oregon, 2016
Executive SummaryThe recovery of endangered Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) in Upper Klamath Lake, south-central Oregon, has been impeded because juveniles are not recruiting into adult spawning populations. Adult sucker populations spawn each spring but mortality of age-0 suckers during their first summer is excessively high, and recruitment of juveniles into adult populations does not occAuthorsDanielle M. Hereford, Carla M. Conway, Summer M. Burdick, Diane G. Elliott, Todd M. Perry, Amari Dolan-Caret, Alta C. HarrisHost feeding ecology and trophic position significantly influence isotopic discrimination between a generalist ectoparasite and its hosts: Implications for parasite-host trophic studies
Despite being one of the most prevalent forms of consumerism in ecological communities, parasitism has largely been excluded from food-web models. Stable isotope analysis of consumers and their diets has been widely used in the study of food webs for decades. However, the amount of information regarding parasite stable isotope ecology is limited, restricting the ability of ecologists to use stableAuthorsWilliam G. Jenkins, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Paul C. SikkelAnalytical and diagnostic performance of a qPCR assay for Ichthyophonus spp. compared to the tissue culture ‘gold standard’
Parasites of the genus Ichthyophonus infect many fish species and have a non-uniform distribution within host tissues. Due in part to this uneven distribution, the comparative sensitivity and accuracy of using molecular-based detection methods versus culture to estimate parasite prevalence is under debate. We evaluated the analytical and diagnostic performance of an existing qPCR assay in comparisAuthorsVanessa C. Lowe, Paul K. Hershberger, Carolyn S. Friedman