Genetics / Transcriptomics and Disease
Marine Contaminants and Disease
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.
News
Solving the Mystery of Sea Star Wasting Disease: A Breakthrough Discovery
Solving the Mystery of Sea Star Wasting Disease: A Breakthrough Discovery
Exclusive: Solving the Mystery of Sea Star Wasting Disease
Exclusive: Solving the Mystery of Sea Star Wasting Disease
Something Fishy from the Western Fisheries Research Center – Winter 2023
Something Fishy from the Western Fisheries Research Center – Winter 2023
Publications
Characteristics of a sea louse (Caligus clemensi) epizootic in wild Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) 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...
Evaluating the effect of nuclear inclusion X (NIX) infections on Pacific razor clam populations 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...
A phylogeny based on cytochrome-c oxidase gene sequences identifies sympatric Ichthyophonus genotypes in the NE Pacific Ocean 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...
Science
Phylogenetics of Ichthyophonus parasites
Ichthyophonus spp. are perhaps the most economically and ecologically important parasites of wild marine fish in the world.
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.
PAH Exposure and Disease Susceptibility
Researchers at the MMFS are studying the immediate and delayed effects of petroleum hydrocarbon exposures to Pacific herring.