Etiologies, observations and reporting of estuarine finfish lesions.
Mar Environ Res
; 50(1-5): 473-7, 2000.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11460735
ABSTRACT
Lesions in estuarine finfish are associated with a variety of organisms including parasites and bacterial, viral, and fungal infectious agents. In addition, trauma, suboptimal water quality, and other abiotic stress factors may result in the loss of homeostasis. We have observed solitary ulcerative lesions on menhaden sampled from the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, the Pimlico River, North Carolina, and the St. Johns River, Florida. Histologically, the lesions demonstrated a marked chronic inflammatory infiltrate and granulomas in response to fungal hyphae throughout large areas of exposed necrotic muscle. Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria were also observed in the lesions, a common finding in ulcers of aquatic organisms. Similar observations in menhaden and other species have been described previously in the literature as ulcerative mycosis, mycotic granulomatosis, red spot disease, and epizootic ulcerative syndrome. Despite the many different known causes of fish lesions, the popular press and the scientific literature have recently emphasized Pfiesteria piscicida and other Pfiesteria-like dinoflagellates (and their bioactive compounds) as the primary causative agent for finfish lesions, particularly mycotic granulomatous ulcers in Atlantic menhaden. While some laboratory data suggest that Pfiesteria may play a role in field-observed lesions, much more cause-and-effect evidence is needed to determine the importance of other risk factors, both alone or and in combination with Pfiesteria. In order to better understand the etiology of lesion initiation and progression in estuarine finfish, accurate assessments of environmental conditions collected on appropriate temporal and spatial scales, and fish morphological indicators consistent with gross and histological pathologic terminology, should be used for reporting fish lesion observations and kills. Further, this outlook will help to avoid bias and may foster a broader perspective for examining the health of estuarine systems in general.
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Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Enfermedades de los Peces
Tipo de estudio:
Etiology_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Animals
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Mar Environ Res
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA
/
SAUDE AMBIENTAL
/
TOXICOLOGIA
Año:
2000
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos