Strawberry disease in rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson

Abstract. Strawberry disease is a subchronic, non–debilitating, and non–fatal inflammatory skin disease of rainbow trout that has been recognized for the past 25 years. Morbidity ranges up to 80% and the disease affects fishes from 15cm in length to brood stock size. Epizootiological data indicate that strawberry disease usually appears, first in the autumn and reaches peak incidence during the following winter and spring. Data also indicate that the disease is found only in certain trout farms in the western and Pacific north–western regions of the United States. Although the cause of strawberry disease is unknown, the normal clinical course of 8 weeks can be reduced by oral treatment with oxytetracycline. Clinical signs include appearance of bright red, raised, circumscribed, ulcerated and indurated lesions in the skin that usually range up to 3 cm or more in diameter. Microscopically, the disease is characterized as a subchronic, focal, non–suppurative dermatitis with ulceration and extensive infiltration of mononuclear inflammatory cells.     

Immunoglobulin heterogeneity in the rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson

Abstract. Hetereogeneity of rainbow trout immunoglobulins was demonstrated by using monoclonal antibody 1A6 and polyacrylamide-gradient gel electrophoresis. Immunoglobulins defined by elisa using monoclonal antibody 1A6 were about 30% of the total immunoglobulins, detected by elisa using polyclonal antibodies, in healthy rainbow trout. In trout obtained from farms with a previous history of infectious viral diseases, 1A6-immunoglobulins were only about 14% of the total. Several serum pools from infected trout could be totally depleted of 1A6-immunoglobulins (about 12% of total immunoglobulins) by affinity chromatography over Sepharose immobilized monoclonal antibody 1A6. Polyacrylamide-gradient gel electrophoresis under denaturing conditions of total immunoglobulins, 1A6 immunoglobulins and no-1A6 immunoglobulins purified by affinity chromatography, showed a majority heavy chain of 70 KDa and a minority heavy chain of about 60 KDa, two light chains of 24 and 26 KDa, and a 11–14 KDa polypeptide.     

Proliferative kidney disease in rainbow trout Salmo gairdneri Richardson

Abstract. Two entirely separate outbreaks of PKD are described in an attempt to properly define the condition and enable it to be differentiated from other diseases of a similar nature. Losses of up to 75% of fingerling rainbow trout were recorded in one outbreak, illustrating the potentially serious nature of the disease. Although the kidneys showed the most obvious pathological changes, other organs were also affected. The host response was granulomatous in type, the foci of each cellular reaction being 5-20 μm eosinophilic cells considered to be parasitic. The cytoplasm of these cells contained numerous electron dense bodies some with a tail, but each with an electron lucent bar always orientated at right angles to the plasmalemma whenever they were near it. The most obvious cytoplasmic inclusion of these 'parasites' were other cells numbering up to five or six, each with its own nucleus and nucleolus, but devoid of any of the small electron dense bodies. The significance of either of these inclusions is unknown.
A limited differential diagnosis is given, and the argument presented that the condition PKD is the result of infection by a parasite, possibly an amoeba, in combination with poor quality water.     

Studies on the carrier state of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus infections in rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson

Abstract. A rainbow trout population of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus carriers was studied over a one-year period using both homogenization and co-cultivation for virus isolation. The percentage of virus-yielding fish was high between March and June, but declined during the latter part of the year. This was diametrically opposite to the trend in the serum antibody levels indicating that the marked humoral immune response resulted in a very significant reduction in the virus titres. The highest isolation rate was obtained from the kidneys after co-cultivation underlining the very high sensitivity of this method for virus detection. Virus was occasionally isolated from the faeces indicating that this may well be a possible avenue for horizontal transmission of the virus. No virus was ever detected in gonadal tissue; the mechanism of vertical transmission of the virus is still very poorly understood.     

Behaviour of rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson, in marine cages

Abstract. Underwater television was used to observe the distribution and swimming behaviour of groups of farmed rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson, in marine net cages. Undisturbed rainbow trout (mean total length 240 mm) aggregated near the surface, remaining motionless in slack water and formed polarized shoals at higher current velocities. Larger fish (mean total length 317 mm) occupied deeper parts of the cage and were more active during periods of slack water. The results are compared with previous work on farmed Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., and discussed in relation to the biology of wild rainbow trout and recent work on exercise, growth and condition in salmonids.     

Phagocytic cells in the epidermis of rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson

Abstract. Electron microscopical observations of skin of rainbow trout revealed the presence of several types of phagocytic cells in the epidermis, most notably macrophages, some of which were seen crossing the basal lamina. Occasionally, filament-containing cells showed either melanin granules or phagosomes, suggesting these cells were also capable of phagocytosis. No cells with the characteristics of the Langerhans cells were observed, which does not necessarily preclude the possibility of macrophages being able to play an identical role as antigen-trapping cells.     

Influence of dietary selenium on the occurrence of nephrocalcinosis in the rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson

Abstract Rainbow trout were fed practical-type diets containing 0.6, 6.6 and 114 μ g/g selenium for 16 weeks at approximately 15°C. Fish reared on the highest levels of dietary selenium had a significant reduction in final body weight, feed: gain ratio and increased mortality. Haematocrit, plasma calcium, glucose, and protein levels did not vary significantly. Ninety per cent of the fish fed the diet containing the highest level of selenium developed nephrocalcinosis. Fish with occult nephrocalcinosis had significantly increased levels of kidney calcium and those with overt nephrocalcinosis had significantly increased levels of kidney calcium and magnesium, and liver magnesium. Microscopically, the majority of renal damage was tubular with the renal interstitium becoming inflamed only when tubules degenerated. The pathogenesis of selenium-induced nephrocalcinosis is discussed.     

The pathology of chronic ammonia toxicity in rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson

Abstract. Two groups of rainbow trout fingerlings were exposed for 90 days to 0.2 and 0.4 mg/1 of un-ionized ammonia, respectively. Several fish exposed to the higher concentration soon developed clinical signs suggestive of a neurological dysfunction but subsequently recovered. No lesion attributable to ammonia was seen in the gills of any of the fish. This raises questions about the precise role of ammonia in the production of gill diseases in intensively cultured trout.     

A lymphosarcoma of thymic origin in the rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson

Abstract. A rainbow trout with a malignant lymphoma of probable thymic origin showed direct spread of the tumour to the gills, metastases to the liver and head kidney, and the presence of abnormal circulating lymphocytes. The cells of the tumour possessed plasma membrane immunoglobulin detectable by immuno–fluorescence. Examination of the tumour cells by transmission electron microscopy revealed no evidence of virus associated with the cells. Infectious viruses could not be detected in the tumour tissue, and the tumour was not transmissible by injection of live tumour cells into young rainbow trout. Attempts to establish the tumour in long–term culture were unsuccessful.     

Solid waste production from rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson, cage culture

Abstract. There is increasing concern over the environmental impact of freshwater cage culture, but there is a lack of information on the amounts and nature of the wastes produced. This study presents measurements of the total solid waste arid solid carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus loadings from five Scottish rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson, cage farms, and shows a significant input of solids below the cages. The results indicate a considerable variability in solid output which was partly due to variations in the feeding rate of fish with the cages, but was also thought to be due to variations in management on individual farms. The results compare well with other studies on land-based pond and tank systems and provide useful estimates of solid waste loadings for the prediction of environmental impact.