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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stuttgart, Arkansas » Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Cntr » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #175267
Title: SPREAD OF AN EXOTIC FISH-GILL TREMATODE:A FAR-REACHING AND COMPLEX PROBLEM

Author
item Mitchell, Andrew
item OVERSTREET, ROBIN - UNIV OF SOUTHERN MS
item GOODWIN, ANDREW - UAPB
item BRANDT, THOMAS - USF&WS

Submitted to: Fisheries
Publication Type: Trade Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/12/2005
Publication Date: 4/15/2005
Citation: Mitchell, A.J., Overstreet, R.M., Goodwin, A.E., Brandt, T.M. 2005. Spread of an exotic fish-gill trematode: a far-reaching and complex problem [abstract]. Fisheries. 30(8):11-16.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Centrocestus formosanus, the gill trematode, has caused serious losses among fish raised by tropical fish producers since the early 1980s. It also is believed to be harmful to wild fish populations in the Comal River near San Marcos, Texas. Among the fish infected in this river is the federally listed endangered fountain darter. The parasite is now found in several fish families from Hawaii, Florida, Texas, and Utah. The gill trematode has a complex life cycle involving definitive hosts (birds and possibly some mammals) and intermediate hosts (an aquatic snail and several fish species). In the USA, the green heron Butorides virescens has been shown to serve as a definitive host but other aquatic birds are also likely to serve as hosts. The first intermediate host, the red-rim melania Melanoides tuberculatus, an exotic snail, has been found in 15 southern or western states. This snail exhibits resistance to desiccation, molluscicides, and disinfectants by closing its shell with an opercular flap. It out-competes some established mollusks, partly because of its ability to reproduce parthenogenically and to brood young internally. Both the gill trematode and its exotic snail host are expected to spread throughout the United States.