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Ceratomyxa shasta genotypes cause differential mortality in their salmonid hosts
Author(s) -
Hurst C N,
Bartholomew J L
Publication year - 2012
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.1365-2761.2012.01407.x
Subject(s) - biology , rainbow trout , allopatric speciation , genotype , parasite hosting , zoology , myxozoa , oncorhynchus , coccidia , ecology , fishery , genetics , gene , population , fish <actinopterygii> , demography , sociology , world wide web , computer science
Ceratomyxa shasta is a myxozoan parasite of salmonid fish. In natural communities, distinct genotypes of the parasite are associated with different salmonid hosts. To test the hypothesis that genotypes of C . shasta cause differential mortality, the polychaete host was experimentally infected with different parasite genotypes. Genotype I was obtained from C hinook salmon, O ncorhynchus tshawytscha , and genotype II from either coho salmon, O . kisutch , or rainbow trout, O . mykiss , We then challenged four salmonid strains: C hinook and coho salmon that occur in sympatry with the parasite and allopatric C hinook salmon and rainbow trout. Parasite genotype I caused mortality only in C hinook strains, although mortality in the allopatric strain also occurred from exposure to genotype II . A second experiment demonstrated that genotype II could be separated into two biotypes based on differential mortality in rainbow trout and coho salmon. These differential patterns of mortality as a result of infection by certain genotypes of C . shasta support field observations and suggest a co‐evolutionary relationship between these parasites and their hosts.