The parasite Ichthyophonus sp. in Pacific herring from the coastal NE Pacific

First detection of Ichthyophonus sp. in invasive wild pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) from the North Atlantic Ocean

Pacific pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) were deliberately introduced to rivers surrounding the White Sea and has spread to Norway and several other countries surrounding the North Atlantic Ocean. In August 2021, a female pink salmon displaying pale gills and abnormal behaviour was captured in River Lakselva in Northern Norway and later submitted to the Norwegian Veterinary Institute (NVI) for post-mortem examination. Histological examination of organ samples revealed structures indicative of systemic ichthyophoniasis, caused by Ichthyophonus sp. The parasites appeared to be especially abundant in the heart and skeletal musculature, and local tissue responses were assessed to be absent or very mild. Sequences of the ribosomal 18S rRNA and the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 (CO1) genes confirmed the diagnosis and identified the pathogen as Ichthyophonus sp. The CO1 sequence further established that the isolate from pink salmon was most similar to sequences of Ichthyophonus sp. from Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, from the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the US and from Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus, from Iceland. We here report the first detection of Ichthyophonus sp. in pink salmon in the North Atlantic Ocean.

A phylogeny based on cytochrome-c oxidase gene sequences identifies sympatric Ichthyophonus genotypes in the NE Pacific Ocean

In recent decades, evidence has accumulated to suggest that the widespread and highly variable parasite Ichthyophonus hoferi is actually a species complex. Highly plastic morphology and a general lack of defining structures has contributed to the likely underestimate of biodiversity within this group. Molecular methods are a logical next step in the description of these parasites, but markers used to date have been too conserved to resolve species boundaries. Here we use mitochondrial encoded cytochrome-c oxidase (MTCO1) gene sequences and phylogenic analysis to compare Ichthyophonus spp. isolates from several marine and anadromous fish hosts. The resulting phylogeny displays lineage separation among isolates and possible host/niche segregation not previously described. The parasite type that infects Pacific herring Clupea pallasii, Atlantic herring C. harengus, Atlantic salmon Salmo salar, and Pacific staghorn sculpin Oligocottus maculosus (Clade A) is different from that which infects Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, walleye pollock Gadus chalcogrammus, Greenland halibut Reinhardtius hippoglossoides, and Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepsis (Clade B). MTCO1 sequences confirmed the presence of a more divergent Ichthyophonus sp. isolated from American shad Alosa sapidissima in rivers of eastern North America (Clade C), while American shad introduced to the Pacific Ocean are infected with the same parasite that infects Pacific herring (Clade A). Currently there are no consensus criteria for delimiting species within Ichthyophonidae, but MTCO1 sequences hold promise as a potential species identifying marker and useful epizootiological tool.

Heatwave-induced synchrony within forage fish portfolio disrupts energy flow to top pelagic predators

During the Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016, abundance and quality of several key forage fish species in the Gulf of Alaska were simultaneously reduced throughout the system. Capelin (Mallotus catervarius), sand lance (Ammodytes personatus), and herring (Clupea pallasii) populations were at historically low levels, and within this community abrupt declines in portfolio effects identify trophic instability at the onset of the heatwave. Although compensatory changes in age structure, size, growth or energy content of forage fish were observed to varying degrees among all these forage fish, none were able to fully mitigate adverse impacts of the heatwave, which likely included both top-down and bottom-up forcing. Notably, changes to the demographic structure of forage fish suggested size-selective removals typical of top-down regulation. At the same time, changes in zooplankton communities may have driven bottom-up regulation as copepod community structure shifted toward smaller, warm water species, and euphausiid biomass was reduced owing to the loss of cold-water species. Mediated by these impacts on the forage fish community, an unprecedented disruption of the normal pelagic food web was signaled by higher trophic level disruptions during 2015-2016, when seabirds, marine mammals, and groundfish experienced shifts in distribution, mass mortalities, and reproductive failures. Unlike decadal-scale variability underlying ecosystem regime shifts, the heatwave appeared to temporarily overwhelm the ability of the forage fish community to buffer against changes imposed by warm water anomalies, thereby eliminating any ecological advantages that may have accrued from having a suite of coexisting forage species with differing life-history compensations.

Ichthyophonosis in Peruvian rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss: identification of endemic areas using molecular and histopathological tools

Ichthyophonus infection was first detected in Peruvian Oncorhynchus mykiss in 1986, but the occurrence of ichthyophonosis disease in the region is unknown. This study investigated the presence and distribution of Ichthyophonus sp. in Peruvian rainbow trout using traditional and DNA sequencing tools. Between 2007 and 2008, 205 rainbow trout from 13 hatcheries in the Mantaro river basin were examined for the presence of Ichthyophonus, and at that time only 3 farms were positive. This early study confirmed the presence of Ichthyophonus sp. in the Tranca Grande lagoon for the first time, at a prevalence of 50%. In 2012, examination of 240 trout from 24 fish farms in 2 Peruvian Departments found 9 infected farms. More recently, in 2018, Ichthyophonus sp. was found in Lake Titicaca, infecting a trout in the Ichu area (in the Department of Puno). Our molecular analysis of the infected trout showed that ichthyophonosis disease in the Peruvian trout was caused by Ichthyophonus sp. Clade C. The finding of this pathogen in Lake Titicaca should be an alert for nearby farms and entities dealing with fish of economic importance in the rivers of Peru.

A geographic hot spot of Ichthyophonus infection in the southern Salish Sea, USA

The prevalence of Ichthyophonus infection in Pacific herring Clupea pallasii was spatially heterogeneous in the southern Salish Sea, Washington State, USA. Over the course of 13 mo, 2232 Pacific herring were sampled from 38 midwater trawls throughout the region. Fork length was positively correlated with Ichthyophonus infection at all sites. After controlling for the positive relationship between host size and Ichthyophonus infection, the probability of infection was approximately 6-fold higher in North Hood Canal than in Puget Sound and the northern Straits (12 vs. 2% predicted probability for a 100 mm fish and 30 vs. 7% predicted probability for a 180 mm fish). Temporal changes in Ichthyophonus infection probability were explained by seasonal differences in fish length, owing to Pacific herring life history and movement patterns. Reasons for the spatial heterogeneity remain uncertain but may be associated with density-dependent factors inherent to the boom-bust cycles that commonly occur in clupeid populations.

Metamorphosis of Ichthyophonus Schizonts Transiting the Gastrointestinal Tract of Experimentally Exposed Rainbow Trout

Other than the initial infectious cell, schizonts are the only stage of the parasite Ichthyophonus sp. that has been identified in the tissues of a living host, and they are known to initiate new infections when ingested by a suitable host. However, after feeding Ichthyophonus-infected tissue to Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, we observed that once infection was initiated, some schizonts proceeded to develop into several other morphologic forms indistinguishable from those previously described from recently deceased hosts, decomposing infected corpses, and in vitro culture. It appeared that not all schizonts participated in the infection process; some initiated infection, as expected, while others passed into the intestines, where they morphed into multiple cell types (e.g., schizonts, some with partially digested or ruptured capsules, ameboid plasmodia, merozoites, hyphenated cells, and empty capsules). Some of these cells were viable when cultured, but none was infectious to naïve Rainbow Trout when administered by gavage. We posit that (1) not all tissue schizonts are programmed to perform the same function or (2) not all respond similarly to their environment. After consumption by a piscivore, those schizonts that do not initiate an infection do not die but rather metamorphose into different cell types as they transit the gastrointestinal tract and are ultimately released back into the aquatic environment through defecation. The fate of these cells after exiting the host is presently unknown, but they likely represent a segment of the Ichthyophonus life cycle.

Ichthyophonus in sport-caught groundfishes from southcentral Alaska

This report of Ichthyophonus in common sport-caught fishes throughout the marine waters of southcentral Alaska represents the first documentation of natural Ichthyophonus infections in lingcod Ophiodon elongates and yelloweye rockfish Sebastes ruberrimus. In addition, the known geographic range of Ichthyophonus in black rockfish S. melanops has been expanded northward to include southcentral Alaska. Among all species surveyed, the infection prevalence was highest (35%, n = 334) in Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis. There were no gross indications of high-level infections or clinically diseased individuals. These results support the hypothesis that under typical conditions Ichthyophonus can occur at high infection prevalence accompanied with low-level infection among a variety of fishes throughout the eastern North Pacific Ocean, including southcentral Alaska.

High-Prevalence and Low-Intensity Ichthyophonus Infections in Pacific Halibut

Ichthyophonus occurred at high prevalence but low intensity in Pacific Halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis throughout the West Coast of North America, ranging from coastal Oregon to the Bering Sea. Infection prevalence in adults was variable on spatial and temporal scales, with the lowest prevalence typically occurring on the edges of the geographic range and highest prevalence consistently occurring inside Prince William Sound, Alaska (58-77%). Additionally, intra-annual differences occurred at Albatross-Portlock, Alaska (71% versus 32% within 2012), and interannual differences occurred along coastal Oregon (50% in 2012 versus 12% in 2015). The infection prevalence was influenced by host age, increasing from 3% or less among the youngest cohorts (age ≤ 6) to 39-54% among age-9-17 cohorts, then decreasing to 27% among the oldest (age-18+) cohorts. There was little indication of significant disease impacts to Pacific Halibut, as the intensity of infection was uniformly low and length at age was similar between infected and uninfected cohorts. These results suggest that Ichthyophonus in Pacific Halibut currently represents a stable parasite-host paradigm in the North Pacific.

Evaluating signals of oil spill impacts, climate, and species interactions in Pacific herring and Pacific salmon populations in Prince William Sound and Copper River, Alaska

The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in March 1989 in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and was one of the worst environmental disasters on record in the United States. Despite long-term data collection over the nearly three decades since the spill, tremendous uncertainty remains as to how significantly the spill affected fishery resources. Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) and some wild Pacific salmon populations (Oncorhynchus spp.) in Prince William Sound declined in the early 1990s, and have not returned to the population sizes observed in the 1980s. Discerning if, or how much of, this decline resulted from the oil spill has been difficult because a number of other physical and ecological drivers are confounded temporally with the spill; some of these drivers include environmental variability or changing climate regimes, increased production of hatchery salmon in the region, and increases in populations of potential predators. Using data pre- and post-spill, we applied time-series methods to evaluate support for whether and how herring and salmon productivity has been affected by each of five drivers: (1) density dependence, (2) the EVOS event, (3) changing environmental conditions, (4) interspecific competition on juvenile fish, and (5) predation and competition from adult fish or, in the case of herring, humpback whales. Our results showed support for intraspecific density-dependent effects in herring, sockeye, and Chinook salmon, with little overall support for an oil spill effect. Of the salmon species, the largest driver was the negative impact of adult pink salmon returns on sockeye salmon productivity. Herring productivity was most strongly affected by changing environmental conditions; specifically, freshwater discharge into the Gulf of Alaska was linked to a series of recruitment failures-before, during, and after EVOS. These results highlight the need to better understand long terms impacts of pink salmon on food webs, as well as the interactions between nearshore species and freshwater inputs, particularly as they relate to climate change and increasing water temperatures.

Disease surveillance of Atlantic herring: molecular characterization of hepatic coccidiosis and a morphological report of a novel intestinal coccidian

Surveillance for pathogens of Atlantic herring, including viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), Ichthyophonus hoferi, and hepatic and intestinal coccidians, was conducted from 2012 to 2016 in the NW Atlantic Ocean, New Jersey, USA. Neither VHSV nor I. hoferi was detected in any sample. Goussia clupearum was found in the livers of 40 to 78% of adult herring in varying parasite loads; however, associated pathological changes were negligible. Phylogenetic analysis based on small subunit 18S rRNA gene sequences placed G. clupearum most closely with other extraintestinal liver coccidia from the genus Calyptospora, though the G. clupearum isolates had a unique nucleotide insertion between 604 and 729 bp that did not occur in any other coccidian species. G. clupearum oocysts from Atlantic and Pacific herring were morphologically similar, though differences occurred in oocyst dimensions. Comparison of G. clupearum genetic sequences from Atlantic and Pacific herring revealed 4 nucleotide substitutions and 2 gaps in a 1749 bp region, indicating some divergence in the geographically separate populations. Pacific G. clupearum oocysts were not directly infective, suggesting that a heteroxenous life cycle is likely. Intestinal coccidiosis was described for the first time from juvenile and adult Atlantic herring. A novel intestinal coccidian species was detected based on morphological characteristics of exogenously sporulated oocysts. A unique feature in these oocysts was the presence of 3 long (15.1 ± 5.1 µm, mean ±SD) spiny projections on both ends of the oocyst. The novel morphology of this coccidian led us to tentatively name this parasite G. echinata n. sp.

Infected Donor Biomass and Active Feeding Increase Waterborne Transmission of Ichthyophonus sp. to Rainbow Trout Sentinels

The precise nature of Ichthyophonus sp. transmission among wild fishes has eluded description for over a century. Transmission among piscivores is direct, via ingestion of infected prey, but there is also evidence for waterborne transmission between infected and uninfected individuals. Transmission among planktivores is believed to be via a waterborne infectious cell, but definitive proof of this mechanism has not been forthcoming. To explore possible mechanisms of transmission we used Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss as a model system and examined the consequence of housing infected donor fish with uninfected (sentinel) fish, without physical contact. We examined two variables linked to transmission: (1) feeding and nonfeeding sentinel fish, and (2) biomass of infected donor fish. Specific-pathogen free sentinel trout were placed in fine-mesh baskets suspended in tanks containing varying numbers of larger Ichthyophonus-infected donor fish and held for 10 weeks, during which time they were examined by in vitro explant culture for the presence of Ichthyophonus. Treatment groups consisted of fed and unfed sentinels housed with infected donors of increasing biomass. After 10 weeks infection prevalence in fed sentinels was significantly higher than in unfed sentinels, and Ichthyophonus was detected earlier in fed fish than in unfed fish. There was no correlation between infection prevalence and donor biomass in fed sentinels, but there was a strong correlation between infection prevalence and increasing donor biomass in unfed sentinels. These data suggest that Ichthyophonus is maintained in wild fish populations by two distinct mechanisms: (1) waterborne infectious cells ingested directly from the water by planktivores, and (2) both infected prey and waterborne infectious cells ingested by piscivores. Received November 13, 2015; accepted February 13, 2016.

Infecting Pacific Herring with Ichthyophonus sp. in the Laboratory

The protistan parasite Ichthyophonus sp. occurs in coastal populations of Pacific Herring Clupea pallasii throughout the northeast Pacific region, but the route(s) by which these planktivorous fish become infected is unknown. Several methods for establishing Ichthyophonus infections in laboratory challenges were examined. Infections were most effectively established after intraperitoneal (IP) injections with suspended parasite isolates from culture or after repeated feedings with infected fish tissues. Among groups that were offered the infected tissues, infection prevalence was greater after multiple feedings (65%) than after a single feeding (5%). Additionally, among groups that were exposed to parasite suspensions prepared from culture isolates, infection prevalence was greater after exposure by IP injection (74%) than after exposure via gastric intubation (12%); the flushing of parasite suspensions over the gills did not lead to infections in any of the experimental fish. Although the consumption of infected fish tissues is unlikely to be the primary route of Ichthyophonus sp. transmission in wild populations of Pacific Herring, this route may contribute to abnormally high infection prevalence in areas where juveniles have access to infected offal.