Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Dr. Hamish Rodger
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Outline Gill disease background Aetiologies of gill disease Pathologies Control & treatments
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Main gill functions Gas exchange (O 2, CO 2 ) Acid base balance Osmoregulation Excretion of nitrogenous waste products (mainly NH 3 ) O 2, CO 2 sensors (neurons) H. Rodger
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Gill disorders finfish farms UK amoebic gill disease (AGD), proliferative/hyperplastic gill disease, algae, jellyfish Norway proliferative gill inflammation (PGI), AGD, pox virus Australia & Japan AGD, plus Chile & USA AGD, harmful algae, others? Canada harmful algae, Loma sp., PGD-type?
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Causes of gill disorders
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Causes of gill disease Harmful algal blooms (physical, toxins or deoxygenation) Harmful zooplankton swarms (nematocysts) Amoebic gill disease & other parasites Bacterial gill disease (Tenacibaculum sp., others) Viruses Fungi Chemical (hydrogen sulphide, hydrogen peroxide) Multiple and/or sequential H. Rodger
Exposure to pathogens Change in environmental conditions Primary insult to gills (phytoplankton, zooplankton, others) Direct pathology & impact Infestation or infection Colonisation of gills by harmful bacteria Infestation by protozoans (costia, trichodina) Gill disease (AGD, pox virus, etc.) Proliferation of parasites, other bacteria Bacterial gill disease/epitheliocystis/p GI or D?
Site A 08GS1 Weekly Mortality Per Pen 30.0 25.0 C1 % Weekly Mortality 20.0 15.0 C2 C3 C4 Hyperplasia, fusion, necrosis & epitheliocystis Tenacibaculum sp. bacteria Trichodina, marine costia, amoeba 10.0 5.0 0.0
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Harmful algae
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Harmful algae blooms (marine) > 200 harmful species Karenia mikimoti (dinoflagellate) Noctiluca scintillans (dinoflagellate) Pseudo-nitzschia sp. Chaetoceros sp. (diatom)
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Harmful algae blooms (HAB); clinical signs Fragile, bleeding gills, inappetance, behaviour change, visibility Photo by A. MacAteer
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Harmful algae blooms (HAB); gross pathology Diffuse necrosis, haemorrhages H. Rodger H. Rodger Increased mucus
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Harmful algae blooms (HAB); histopathology Diffuse epithelial apposition, sloughing & necrosis (Karenia mikimotoi) H. Rodger H. Rodger
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Harmful jellyfish or zooplankton pathology
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture What are Jellyfish? jellyfish Little jellyfish Siphonophores Comb jellies (Scyphomedusae) (Hydromedusae) (Siphonophores) (Ctenophores)
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Harmful jellyfish or zooplankton pathology Stinging cells (nematocysts) - Mechanical damage - Toxic Damage
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Hydroids (Ectopleura larynx) & biofouling organisms
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Jellyfish pathology Muggiaea atlantica & Phialella sp. Aurelia aurita
Gill Health in Finfish Aquaculture Harmful zooplankton gill histopathology Focal epithelial necrosis, sloughing and haemorrhage/thrombosis or haemolysis (Aurelia aurita) Concurrent or secondary bacterial infections Progression or healing? H. Rodger
Finfish Potential Aquaculture vectors for pathogens? Phialella quadrata and Pelagia noctiluca: implicated as vectors of the bacterial disease Tenacibaculum maritimum H. RODGER H. Rodger Muggiaea atlantica Delannoy et al. 2011
Finfish Aquaculture Gill parasites
Finfish Amoebic gill disease Aquaculture Neoparamoeba perurans H. Rodger H. Rodger
Gills affected with Ichthyobodo sp. & fungi (Saprolegnia sp.)
Bacteria Tenacibaculum sp. T. maritimum
Epitheliocystis in Seriola sp.
Importance of diagnosis Increasingly complex Many infectious agents ubiquitous Cause-and-effect relationship not defined for all Predisposing factors of greater significance?
Differential diagnosis Clinical history & signs Water quality, plankton sampling & observations Fresh gill smears (on site microscopy) Histopathology PCR, bacteriology
Treatment & control HAB & zooplankton: stop feeding, aerate/oxygenate?, move pens?, enclose pens? but early warning required. Biofouling? AGD: freshwater baths, hydrogen peroxide, improve environment Bacterial gill disease: improve environment, antibiotic?
Monitoring Daily secchi disc (and phytoplankton) Zooplankton
Gross gill scores Histopathology
Gross gill scores Fresh gill smears
Surveillance via RT-PCR Gill amoebae Microsporidians
Summary Gill disease highly significant health challenge May be uni- or multifactorial Accurate, early diagnosis crucial Monitoring, gill disease can be progressive Treatments available for some conditions Improve rearing conditions Much research required
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