Pathogenesis of Trypanosoma murmanensis in marine fish of the northwestern Atlantic following experimental transmission

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The susceptibility of four species of marine fish (Gadus morhua, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, Myoxocephalus scorpius, and Myoxocephalus octodecemspinosus) to leech-transmitted Trypanosoma murmanensis was assessed 49–60 days after infection by comparing condition factor, organ somatic indices, parasitological, hematological, and histological findings with corresponding uninfected animals. The fish were maintained at temperatures (0–1 °C) to simulate the environment where transmission occurs naturally. High mortality occurred in juvenile Atlantic cod and winter flounder, but deaths decreased with increasing fish size. No adult fish died except flounder when fin rot was present. Anemia was the most common pathological feature observed in young fish at necropsy, but its severity was not always correlated with the level of parasitemia. The persistent anemia was probably associated with an inactive rather than an impaired hemopoietic system. Condition factor and somatic indices of liver, spleen, and heart were altered in some infected fish groups. It is concluded that T. murmanensis is a potential pathogen, especially to juvenile American plaice, Hippoglossoides platessoides, in which high prevalences of natural infections have been observed in some areas of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean.