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The importance of Lernaea cruciata (Le Sueur) in the initiation of skin lesions in largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede), in the Chowan River, North Carolina, USA
Author(s) -
NOGA E. J.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of fish diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.819
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1365-2761
pISSN - 0140-7775
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2761.1986.tb01018.x
Subject(s) - micropterus , bass (fish) , biology , copepod , skin lesion , anatomy , centrarchidae , pathology , zoology , fishery , crustacean , medicine
. Largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede), were collected from May to October from the Chowan River, North Carolina and examined for the presence of skin lesions. Over 55% of all largemouth bass greater than 100 mm in length had skin lesions. The largest fish (≥400 mm) had the greatest number of lesions (X̄= 3.4 lesions per fish). When examined by wet mounts, small early lesions frequently (31% of all lesions) had the microscopic recently metamorphosed adult female stage of Lernaea cruciata . Older macroscopically visible adult females were only rarely seen (2% of all lesions). Examinations of wet mounts revealed no identifiable pathogen in 60% of all early lesions but histologically almost all lesions had a similar inflammatory response. Lesions were most common along the ventral surface of the body where 85% of all lesions were present. This was also the most common site of copepod infection, with 95% of all copepods present at this site. Bacterial numbers in early lesions were occasionally high and tended to increase in concentration in advanced lesions. No single organism was consistently identified as predominant in the majority of lesions. The possible relationship of these lesions to red‐sore disease is discussed.