Categoría: Multisystem

Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD) in Salmonids – Gross Pathology

Multisystem
by Hugh Ferguson
Atlantic salmon (adult-1500 g) with BKD. Note the multiple granulomas in kidney. These severe lesions lead to renal failure

Bacterial kidney disease (BKD) is a chronic systemic infection of salmonid fish, the cause of which is the gram-positive diplobacillus, Renibacterium salmoninarum. Although BKD is most common in salmonids, both farmed and wild, R. salmoninarum is also found in other fish species, such as cyprinids and sablefish Anoplopoma fimbria. R. salmoninarum grows intracellularly in the phagocytic cells of the fish, resulting therefore in a largely granulomatous host response, although the early response to infection does involve significant numbers of neutrophils. Clinical signs and external lesions...

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Tenacibaculosis in Fish – Gross Pathology

Gills and Pseudobranchs, Multisystem, Skin
by Carlos Sandoval
Figure 1. Rainbow trout displaying tail and peduncle lesions.

Tenacibaculosis is primarily a skin infection causing ulcerative dermatitis in a range of commercially important species worldwide. Three species belonging to the genus Tenacibaculum have been associated with the disease: T. dicentrarchi, T. finnmarkense, and T. maritimum.   These bacteria are all Gram-negative and filamentous.  In marine fish, the most common isolate is T. maritimum. There is variation in the external pathological signs of the disease, depending on the species and age of the fish involved. Different names have been used for this usually ulcerative dermatitis; they include salt water columnaris...

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Gas Bubble Disease

Multisystem
by Hugh Ferguson
Figure 1. Rainbow trout with several gas bubbles in the anterior chamber. Note the haemorrhage both dorsally and ventrally, the latter “coning” through the ventral iris pore

Gas bubble disease (GBD) is the fish equivalent of the “bends” in human scuba divers. It is the result of gas coming out of solution in the bloodstream, thereby leading to the formation of emboli, especially in smaller blood vessels, including rete. Thus, lesions are common in gills, and the choroid gland of the eye. In water that is supersaturated, fish equilibriate with that supersaturated gas, just as human scuba divers equilibriate with gas at high pressures. It is not known precisely what prompts the...

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Flavobacterium psychrophilum in salmonids – Gross Pathology

Multisystem
by Hugh Ferguson
Figure 2. F. psychrophilum infection in rainbow trout. Note the classical “peduncle disease” with necrosis and darkening of tissues distal to the anal fin.

Flavobacterium psychrophilum is a ubiquitous Gram-negative filamentous and yellow-pigmented bacterium, and as the name suggests, it thrives in cooler water temperatures, causing disease in freshwater fish at 4-12°C. It likes connective tissues, especially those in younger fish in which it causes diseases such as bacterial cold-water disease (BCWD or peduncle disease) and rainbow trout fry syndrome (RTFS). As fish get older and the proportions/chemistry/locations of connective tissue change, the types of lesions also change. F. psychrophilum is responsible for significant economic losses in salmonid aquaculture...

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Jellyfish Lesions in Fish – Histopathology

Multisystem
by Hugh Ferguson
Figure 5. Phialella quadrata attached to gill raker of Atlantic salmon and showing necrosis of epithelium, loss of basement membrane, and underlying dermal haemorrhage. A close inspection of the interface between the jellyfish and the gill epithelium shows tube-like extensions reaching down through the epithelium – nematocysts?

The negative interactions between jellyfish and fish in aquaculture appear to be an increasing problem. This is partly due to increased numbers of jellyfish, associated with global warming, reduced numbers of their predators, and to the intensification of aquaculture operations in many coastal areas worldwide. Most reported problems have occurred in marine-farmed salmonids in northwest Europe. Nevertheless, aquaculture operations in other regions such as Asia, North America, and Australia have also been affected. Jellyfish involved are primarily cnidarians i.e. those species with stinging cells –...

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