Regression and development of epidermal papillomas affecting white suckers, Catostomus commersoni (Lacépède), from Lake Ontario, Canada

Abstract. Epidermal papillomas affect white suckers, Catostomus commersoni (Lacepede), from various areas of the Great Lakes of North America, particularly regions receiving industrial pollution. Three morphologically distinct but histologically similar papillomas were found on a group of fish from a polluted site. The diameter of focal soft-skin plaques, focal hard-skin papillomas and focal lip tumours was monitored on individual fish before and after a 12–week observation period in our laboratory. Many papillomas disappeared completely, while others persisted. Individually lip tumours had a lesser frequency of regression (22%), compared to skin plaques (79%) or papillomas (64%). Papillomas which persisted had only slightly smaller diameters after 12 weeks. New tumours developed on 23 and 60% of the survivors in two separate groups. The development of tumours in the laboratory suggests a cause unrelated to the environmental pollution which is correlated with papilloma incidences in wild white suckers. The behaviour of white sucker papillomas under laboratory conditions contrasts with the persistence and often enlargement of similar papillomas reported for other poikilothermic species.