Widespread infection of lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis with the swimbladder nematode Cystidicola farionis in northern lakes Michigan and Huron

Assessment of Renibacterium salmoninarum infections in four lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) stocks from northern Lakes Huron and Michigan

“…Our observation that lake whitefish with medium and high antigen level had higher abundance of swimbladder nematodes supports this contention. Also lending support is our finding that the CHE stock, which generally had the highest C. farionis intensity and prevalence levels (Faisal et al, 2010), had the greatest odds of having higher antigen levels. The CHE stock also had the highest incidence of infection with motile Aeromonas, which is another opportunistic pathogen (Loch and Faisal, 2010b).…”

“…Parallel parasitological surveys performed on the four lake whitefish stocks demonstrated that the peak of infection with the swimbladder nematode, Cystidicola farionis, is in the spring, when infection prevalence often reached N75% (Faisal et al, 2010). This parasite is known to stress infected fish, as it compromises the vital functions of the swimbladder and may lead to impaired swimming movement during foraging and predator avoidance.…”

“…The methods for collecting and identifying C. farionis in sampled lake whitefish are detailed in Faisal et al (2010). We tested for differences in C. farionis abundance among the R. salmoninarum antigen levels using a generalized linear model with a negative binomial error structure.…”

“…The declines in growth and condition have been linked to high levels of lake whitefish abundance (Kratzer et al, 2007a,b;Wright and Ebener, 2007) concurrent with the invasion of non-native quagga and zebra mussels into the Great Lakes basin (Nalepa et al, 2009b), and subsequent declines in abundance of Diporeia spp., an important food of lake whitefish . Infectious diseases are another possible factor that may be affecting condition of lake whitefish; unfortunately, there is only limited information on infectious pathogens of lake whitefish in the Great Lakes (Jonas et al, 2002;Faisal and Hnath, 2005;Loch et al, 2008;Faisal, 2010a, 2010b;Faisal et al, 2010) and even less information on what the management implications of diseases caused by these pathogens may be.…”

Assessing the health of lake whitefish populations in the Laurentian Great Lakes: Foreword

“…Faisal (2010a, 2010b) and Faisal et al (2010aFaisal et al ( , 2010b provide detailed accounts of potentially pathogenic bacterial, viral, and parasitic infection for lake whitefish from four spawning locations in northern lakes Huron and Michigan. Lake whitefish were found to be infected with several species and strains of the motile bacterium Aeromonas (Loch and Faisal, 2010a), including what is believed to be the first ever reporting of A. salmonicida salmonicida infection in the species .…”