MORPHOLOGIC FEATURES OF PEROSOMUS ("SHORT SPINE") IN FARMED SALMON (SALMO SALAR)

This study was done to characterize morphologically the spinal changes in stunted salmon, 1.5–2 years of age, spontaneously appearing in a Swedish fish farm. Radiographic examination and alizarin-alcian blue preparations showed compressed areas of the spine, most often near the dorsal fin. Of the average 50–52 vertebrae, 20–30 were often compressed, resulting in an average shortening of the fish by 23%. The histopathologic character of the shortened spine was a replacement of the chorda (intervertebral pad or disc) with a poorly differentiated hyaline cartilage, in which proliferative and degenerative processes produced a very irregular pattern. The origin of this cartilage, which had severely impaired ossifying capacity, was perichordal and it often had direct connections with the growth centers of the vertebrae. The disappearance of the large strongly convex (spheric) chorda and the arrest of the vertebral endochondral ossification resulted in narrow disc-like vertebrae in contrast to the normal X-shaped ones. The pathologic changes resemble those observed in chondrodystrophic types of perosomus ("short spine") in certain mammals, including humans, and in turkeys.