A mycosis-like granuloma of fish

Mycoses of systemic distribution are rarely observed in fresh-water fish in this country. In a recent review of atypical cell growths in fishes, Nigrelli cited the only known instance of a mycetoma in a North American fresh-water fish which occurred in the head of fingerling landlocked salmon from an Idaho hatchery. The fungus associated with this granuloma was characterized by a branching septate mycelium. Rucker reported a streptomycete which was pathogenic to blueblack salmon. This organism produced internal nodules containing masses of hyphae but no inflammatory response. A pathogenic fungus has been observed frequently in marine fish, however, and in both marine and fresh-water fish in Europe. This organism was tentatively classified as a Phycomycete in or near the order Chytridiales and was assigned to the genus and species Ichthyophonus hoferi, later reclassified as Ichthyosporidium hoferi. The graduloma described in this report occurs in fresh-water trout and is apparently caused by a budding, yeast-like form with no hyphae which evokes a tremendous inflammatory reaction. Morphologically, the organism does not resemble the previously described Ichthyosporidium. The lesions were first seen accidentally in sections prepared from a diplobacillus infection of brook trout termed “kidney disease.” Subsequently, the granuloma was observed in three widely separated infections involving the diplobacillus in each instance.
The histological material was received in a fixed condition; thus, no cultural data was available and the nomenclature and classification of the mycotic organism were not attempted. The present distribution of the disease, however, with its potential threat to domestic fish populations, seemed to warrant a description and discussion of the disease. Efforts are in progress to culture the organism.