Lesions observed in the testis of precociously maturing male Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L.

Abstract

Abnormalities were detected in the testes of maturing male Atlantic salmon parr from one hatchery. They consisted of a focal necrosis of germ tissue at the time of rapid cell division when normal germ cells were reaching the spermatid stage of development. Some males taken from sea water which had matured previously in fresh water, had fibrous capsules in their testes as remnants of the freshwater lesion but there were no new abnormalities developing in the gonads. The same stock of fish showed other abnormalities and the authors speculate on a possible connection between these changes and the gonad lesion.

Identification of Candidate Genes and Physiological Pathways Involved in Gonad Deformation in Whitefish (Coregonus spp.) from Lake Thun, Switzerland

“…The presence of a blood-testis barrier is thought to provide an environment in which the appearance of specific antigens (possibly also auto-antigens) is facilitated [ 71 ]. As mentioned above, it has been demonstrated that autoimmune lesions in the testis could be induced experimentally, which, besides rainbow trout, was also the case in Atlantic salmon by injecting autologous or allogenic testis material into adult fishes [ 72 ]. These findings suggest that the blood-testis barrier may have broken down during autoimmune response to the testis, which was confirmed in the study by Lou and Takahashi [ 71 ] on Nile tilapia.…”