Abstract
AEI Aquaculture Environment Interactions Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections AEI 1:245-257 (2011) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00024 Gill disorders in marine-farmed salmon: investigating the role of hydrozoan jellyfish Emily J. Baxter1,2,*, Hamish D. Rodger3, Rob McAllen2, Thomas K. Doyle1 1Coastal and Marine Research Centre, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Naval Base, Haulbowline, Cork, Ireland 2Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland 3Vet-Aqua International, Oranmore Business Park, Oranmore, Co. Galway, Ireland *Email: e.baxter@gmx.com ABSTRACT: Jellyfish have been implicitly linked to a number of fish kill events in marine-farmed finfish over recent decades. However, due to insufficient data, it is difficult to identify small hydrozoan jellyfish as the causative agents of the more common and chronic problem of gill disorders. Gill disorders (physical, pathogenic or parasitic damage to the gills) can be caused by a number of waterborne agents and are an increasing though poorly understood problem for the aquaculture industry. Hence, the first year-long monitoring programme to study hydrozoan jellyfish, other gelatinous zooplankton, phytoplankton and fish health was initiated at 2 aquaculture sites on the west coast of Ireland. At the southern site, 2 jellyfish species previously implicated in aquaculture fish kill events (Muggiaea atlantica and Solmaris corona) occurred at high abundances (combined density of ~450 jellyfish m–3, an order of magnitude lower than during previous mass mortality events). The fish at this site exhibited clinically significant gill damage throughout the peak in jellyfish abundance. Analyses revealed a significant positive correlation between daily fish mortality and the abundance of these jellyfish but not with any other factors. At the northern site, there were low abundances of jellyfish; nevertheless, gill damage due to the protozoan parasite Trichodina sp. was observed over a shorter time period. As the European aquaculture sector experiences annual economic losses due to gill disorders, these findings raise concerns for the expected growth of the industry, especially as jellyfish populations are predicted to increase in some areas. Therefore, mitigation methods need to be developed and implemented. KEY WORDS: Aquaculture · Gelatinous zooplankton · Siphonophores · Hydromedusae · Atlantic salmon · Fish kills Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Baxter EJ, Rodger HD, McAllen R, Doyle TK (2011) Gill disorders in marine-farmed salmon: investigating the role of hydrozoan jellyfish. Aquacult Environ Interact 1:245-257. https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00024 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AEI Vol. 1, No. 3. Online publication date: June 10, 2011 Print ISSN: 1869-215X; Online ISSN: 1869-7534 Copyright © 2011 Inter-Research.
Highlights
It is well established that jellyfish can impact negatively on coastal industries and services such as tourism, fishing and power generation
Jellyfish have been identified as the causative agents in a number of fish kill events of marine-farmed salmonids throughout northern Europe in recent decades (Purcell et al 2007)
Instances of jellyfish being linked to the underlying problem of gill disorders are especially scarce (Rodger et al 2011)
Summary
It is well established that jellyfish (especially of the Phylum Cnidaria) can impact negatively on coastal industries and services such as tourism (stinging of bathers), fishing (clogging of nets, increased labour) and power generation (clogging of cooling intakes) (reviewed by Purcell et al 2007). A less widely known problem is the negative impact of jellyfish on finfish, Atlantic salmon Salmo salar, in aquaculture. Other examples of acute mass mortality events include the mortality of >100 000 farmed salmon in Norway caused by the siphonophore Muggiaea atlantica (Fosså et al 2003). This species was a suspected causative agent of over 1 000 000 salmon killed off northwest Ireland in 2003 (Cronin et al 2004). The siphonophore Apolemia uvaria, the oceanic hydromedusa Solmaris corona and the neritic hydromedusa Phialella quadrata have been previously implicated in fish kill events (Bruno & Ellis 1985, Båmstedt et al 1998)
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