Epidemiology of epidermal papillomatosis in roach Rutilus rutilus was studied in 11 roach populations in Finland in 1999 and 2000 during the spawning period. In addition, the seasonal pattern of the disease was described in 1 population. Papilloma tumours were observed on the skin and fins of roach in 8 populations out of 11. Prevalence of papillomatosis varied from 0 to 62%, being higher in populations subject to industrial or sewage effluents. Males and large fish had higher prevalence of papilloma tumours. The disease outbreak peaked during the spawning period and signs of recovered skin on fish were observed later during the year. The gender dependence in the disease prevalence found in the study may indicate differences in stress and immunocompetence between roach males and females during the spawning period.KEY WORDS: Spawning papillomatosis · Roach · Tumours · Seasonality · Gender dependence · Pollution
Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherDis Aquat Org 52: [185][186][187][188][189][190] 2002 gested immunomodulative role of androgens (Folstad & Karter 1992, Braude et al. 1999) and intensive spawning of roach (Wedekind 1996), we expected males to have higher prevalences and intensities of papilloma, especially during spawning. We studied the prevalence of the disease during spawning from separated roach populations in randomly chosen polluted and non-polluted waters to monitor the possible environmental aspects of the phenomenon (Möller & Anders 1986). In one of the populations, we also studied the seasonal pattern of the disease.
MATERIALS AND METHODSA total of 1683 adult roach specimens (mean length ± SD; 159.1 ± 29 mm) were collected using netting, and studied during the spawning period from 6 populations between April and May 1999, and from 11 populations in 2000. Sampled populations, exact sample sizes and dates are given in Table 1. The sampled populations were classified into 2 groups by their pollution backround (e.g. Paasivirta et al. 1986, Granberg 1987: (1) human-impact waters including industrial and/or sewage effluents, and (2) non-human-impact waters (see Table 1). The study populations were from separate areas, and were within 100 km distance from the city of Jyväskylä (62°14' N, 25°46' E, central Finland), except for Lake Viitajärvi (64°38'N, 24°26'E, the Baltic Sea population, northern Finland) and River Alajoki (60°90' N, 28°12' E, discharging to the Baltic Sea, south-east Finland).The seasonal occurrence of the disease was studied from 8 additional samples (n = 434) taken between February and November 1999 from Lake Jyväsjärvi. This lake was chosen for the seasonal study, because earlier observations indicated that disease occurrence was most severe in this lake. Exact monthly sample sizes and dates for Lake Jyväsjärvi are given in Fig. 1. Fish were caught by angling and netting.Fish were killed with a sharp blow to the head immediately after catching. We measured the fork length of the fish and determined the sex by examining the gon...