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Myxobolus cerebralis
| Myxobolus cerebralis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Triactinomyxon stage of Myxobolus cerebralis - note the three "tails" | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Genus: | Myxobolus
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Myxobolus cerebralis is a small Myxozoan parasite that eats the insides of fish like salmon and trout, causing whirling disease.
This is a problem in fish farming and also in natural fish populations. In the last 100 years, it has spread to most of Europe (including Russia), the United States, South Africa, and other countries.[1] In the 1980s, people found out that M. cerebralis needs to live in a worm before it can live in a fish.[1] It infects both the fish and the worm by poking a hole in them and putting part of itself in.
Whirling disease hurts young fish the most, and can hurt bones and nerves. Fish with the disease do not swim very well, and they "whirl" or spin instead of swimming straight. This makes it hard for the fish to get food and get away from danger.[2] Dealing with M. cerebralis costs more money than most other parasites in its group (which are called "myxozoans"). People do not get sick with whirling disease, though; only fish do.[3]
M. cerebralis has become well-established, particularly in North America. It has caused the decline of whole cohorts of fish.[4][5]
- ↑ Bartholomew, J.L.; Reno, P.W. (2002). "The history and dissemination of whirling disease". American Fisheries Society Symposium. 29: 3–24.
- ↑ Gilbert, M. A.; Granath, W. O. Jr. (2003). "Whirling disease and salmonid fish: life cycle, biology, and disease". Journal of Parasitology. 89 (4): 658–667. doi:10.1645/ge-82r. JSTOR 3285855. PMID 14533670. S2CID 8950955.
- ↑ Kent, M. L.; Margolis, L.; Corliss, J.O. (1994). "The demise of a class of protists: taxonomic and nomenclatural revisions proposed for the protist phylum Myxozoa Grasse, 1970". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 72 (5): 932–937. doi:10.1139/z94-126.
- ↑ Nehring R.B. 1996. Whirling disease in feral trout populations in Colorado. In E.P. Bergersen And B.A.Knoph (eds) Proceedings: Whirling Disease Workshop––where do we go from here? Colorado Cooperative Fish And Wildlife Research Unit, Fort Collins, p159.
- ↑ Vincent E.R. 1996. Whirling disease—the Montana experience, Madison River. In E.P. Bergersen And B.A.Knoph (eds) Proceedings: Whirling Disease Workshop—where do we go from here? Colorado Cooperative Fish And Wildlife Research Unit, Fort Collins, p159.
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