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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Auburn, Alabama » Aquatic Animal Health Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #77121

Title: INNATE RESISTANCE TO CYTOPHAGA COLUMNARIS IN NON-FED AND FED CHANNEL CATFISH ICTALURUS PUNCTATUS.

Author
item Klesius, Phillip
item Lim, Chhorn
item Shoemaker, Craig

Submitted to: Journal of Aquatic Animal Health
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/4/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Cytophaga columnaris is one of the leading diseases that is responsible for a major part of the annual losses of $30 million to cultured fish industries in U.S. Methods of control are limited and often farmers do not feed infected fish because of their belief that this practice will reduce losses. Scientists of the Fish Diseases and Parasites Research Laboratory at Auburn found significant increase in deaths due to columnaris which occurred in channel catfish starved for 7 and 10 day periods. These results show that starvation of channel catfish 7 days or more in the absence of natural food negatively influences natural resistance of channel catfish to columnaris disease cause by C. columnaris.

Technical Abstract: The mortality rate and antibody titer of juvenile channel catfish reared under laboratory conditions and fed different feeding regimens were determined in catfish challenged with Cytophaga columnaris. Significant increase in mortality due to C. columnaris occurred in channel catfish starved for 7 and 120-d periods. There were no differences in mortality rate between the 3-d fed and non-fed fish, and the 7-d fed fish. Antibody titers showed that the challenged fish in all treatments were infected as evidence by the significant increase in antibody titers as compared to those of the PBS controls. However, the antibody titers did not relate to the change in mortality due to C. columnaris. Results of this study show that starvation of channel catfish 7 days or more in the absence of natural food negatively influences innate resistance of channel catfish to columnaris disease caused by C. columnaris.