Thermal effluent and the epizootiology of the ciliate epistylis and the bacterium aeromonas in association with centrarchid fish
Epistylis sp. (Caliophora: Peritricha) is a facultative ectosymbiont of fresh-water fishes in streams and lakes throughout the southeastern U.S. In combination with the gram-negative bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila, epizootic outbreaks of Epistylis have been implicated in the death of many thousands of game fish, primarily striped bass and several species of Centrarchidae (sunfish), in several reservoirs in North Carolina. While these epizootics have been correlated with high levels of organic loading, recent studies suggest that thermal loading from a nuclear production facility may influence the level of infection by A. hydrophila and Epistylis sp. (A-E complex) on centrarchid sunfish in Par Pond, Savannah River Plant, Aiken, S.C. Utilizing electro-fishing techniques, in excess of 11,500 sunfish, representing six different species, were collected and examined for external lesions associated with the A-E complex. Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) were most heavily infected, followed in incidence of infection by bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), warmouth (Lepomis gulosus) and redbreast sunfish (Lepomis auritus); lesions were not observed on the surface of black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus). The body conditions (or K-factor) of more than 2,000 largemouth bass were calculated; direct correlations were found between thermal loading, body condition, and incidence of infection. These data are discussed in terms of thermal effluent and the epizootiology of Epistylis sp. and Aeromonas hydrophila.
- Research Organization:
- Wake Forest Univ., Winston-Salem, NC
- OSTI ID:
- 5935221
- Journal Information:
- Trans. Am. Microsc. Soc.; (United States), Vol. 95:4
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
FISHES
DISEASES
THERMAL EFFLUENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
BACTERIA
COOLING PONDS
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
PROTOZOA
SAMPLING
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
STRIPED BASS
SYMBIOSIS
WATER POLLUTION
WOUNDS
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
INJURIES
INVERTEBRATES
MICROORGANISMS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
POLLUTION
PONDS
POWER PLANTS
SURFACE WATERS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
VERTEBRATES
WATER RESERVOIRS
520400* - Environment
Aquatic- Thermal Effluents Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
220503 - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Environmental Aspects- Chemical & Thermal Effluents