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Ecology of Marine Diseases

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Genetics / Transcriptomics and Disease

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Marine Contaminants and Disease

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Marrowstone Marine Field Station (MMFS)

In the NW Region of the USGS the MMFS represents the exclusive marine/seawater-based research facility. The availability and delivery of exceptionally high quality seawater represents one of the finest operational attributes of the MMFS, on the NW shore of Puget Sound. Basic and applied research at the MMFS is directed towards understanding ecological processes that impact marine ecosystem health.

Spotlight on Research

Pale gills of a herring with VEN

Ecology of Marine Diseases

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MMFS Publications

Pacific herring

Learn more about our research through our publications.

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News

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Something Fishy from the Western Fisheries Research Center – Summer 2023

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Directors Message: Knowledge Transfer is Vital to the Success of New Ventures in Fish Passage and Reintroduction

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If You Build It, They Will Swim—New Swim Flume Gives Insight into Fish Disease, Swimming Performance, and Fitness

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Publications

Characteristics of a sea louse (Caligus clemensi) epizootic in wild Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii)

We characterized a natural sea louse epizootic of Caligus clemensi and the effects of parasitism on Pacific herring Clupea pallasii in Port Angeles Harbor, WA, USA. Infestation prevalence on newly metamorphosed age 0 Pacific herring reached 100% prevalence by mid-August. At this time, the mean louse intensity was 4.6 lice/fish, and a positive correlation occurred between louse intensity and herrin
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David James Páez, Jacob L. Gregg, Ashley MacKenzie, Sophie Amanda Hall, Paul Hershberger
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Western Fisheries Research Center, Marrowstone Marine Field Station (MMFS)

Evaluating the effect of nuclear inclusion X (NIX) infections on Pacific razor clam populations

ABSTRACT: Nuclear inclusion X (NIX), the etiological agent of bacterial gill disease in Pacific razor clams Siliqua patula, was associated with host mortality events in coastal Washington State, USA, during the mid-1980s. Ongoing observations of truncated razor clam size distributions in Kalaloch Beach, Washington, raised concerns that NIX continues to impact populations. We conducted a series of
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Maya Groner, Paul Hershberger, Steven C. Fradkin, Carla M. Conway, Aine Marie Alice Campbell Hawthorn, Maureen K. Purcell
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Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center, Western Fisheries Research Center, Fish Health Program (FHP), Marrowstone Marine Field Station (MMFS)

A phylogeny based on cytochrome-c oxidase gene sequences identifies sympatric Ichthyophonus genotypes in the NE Pacific Ocean

ABSTRACT: In recent decades, evidence has accumulated to suggest that the widespread and highly variable parasite Ichthyophonus hoferi is actually a species complex. Highly plastic morphology and a general lack of defining structures has contributed to the likely underestimate of biodiversity within this group. Molecular methods are a logical next step in the description of these parasites, but ma
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Jacob L. Gregg, Paul Hershberger, Abigail S. Neat, Hiruni T. Jayasekera, Jayde A. Ferguson, Rachel L. Powers, Maureen K. Purcell
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Western Fisheries Research Center, Fish Health Program (FHP), Marrowstone Marine Field Station (MMFS)
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Science

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Wild Pacific herring from Puget Sound demonstrating external signs of Ichthyophonus disease

Phylogenetics of Ichthyophonus parasites

Ichthyophonus spp. are perhaps the most economically and ecologically important parasites of wild marine fish in the world.
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Western Fisheries Research Center, Marrowstone Marine Field Station (MMFS)
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Phylogenetics of Ichthyophonus parasites

Ichthyophonus spp. are perhaps the most economically and ecologically important parasites of wild marine fish in the world.
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Herring juvenile 103 days post-hatch.

PCB Exposure and Disease Susceptibility

Researchers at that MMFS are experimentally determining the impacts of high PCB body burdens on the immunocompetency and disease susceptibility of Pacific herring.
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Western Fisheries Research Center, Marrowstone Marine Field Station (MMFS)
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PCB Exposure and Disease Susceptibility

Researchers at that MMFS are experimentally determining the impacts of high PCB body burdens on the immunocompetency and disease susceptibility of Pacific herring.
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Image: Pacific Herring larvae

PAH Exposure and Disease Susceptibility

Researchers at the MMFS are studying the immediate and delayed effects of petroleum hydrocarbon exposures to Pacific herring.
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Western Fisheries Research Center, Marrowstone Marine Field Station (MMFS)
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PAH Exposure and Disease Susceptibility

Researchers at the MMFS are studying the immediate and delayed effects of petroleum hydrocarbon exposures to Pacific herring.
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