Fumagillin, an efficacious drug against renal sphaerosporosis of the common carp Cyprinus carpio

At present no reliable and efficacious drugs are available for treating fish diseases caused by myxosporeans. By feeding Fumagillin DCH salt in the diet, the authors achieved very promising results in controlling renal sphaerosporosis, one of the commonest myxosporean parasitoses of common carp Cyprinus carpio. Intraperitoneal injection of Sphaerospora renicola stages developing in the swimbladder produced sphaerosporosis only in control groups, whereas in fish consuming 0.1 % fumagillin no infection developed. Farm-pond experiments also gave promising results: in fumagillintreated common carp fry a much milder sphaerosporosis developed, both in prevalence and intensity, than in control fish

Development of Myxobolus dispar (Myxosporea : Myxobolidae) in an oligochaete alternate host, Tubifex tubifex

The development of Myxobolus dispar Thelohan, 1895, a myxosporean parasite of the gills of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) was studied in experimentally infected oligochaetes Tubifex tubifex Muller. After infection of uninfected tubificids with mature spores of M. dispar development of actinosporean stages was first observed light microscopically 21 days after initial exposure. In histological sections, early pansporocysts were located in the gut epithelium of experimental oligochaetes, while advanced stages occupied mostly the outer layers of the gut and the coelozoic space. Mature pansporocysts, each containing 8 raabeia spores, appeared 199 days after initial exposure. Following damage of the intestinal wall and rupture of the pansporocysts, free actinosporean stages were found in the gut lumen of the oligochaetes. Actinospores of M. dispar emerged from the worms after 217 days of intra-oligochaete development. They were floating in the water and showed a unique raabeia form. Each raabeia sport had three pyriform polar capsules and a cylindrical-shaped sporoplasm with approximately 32 secondary cells. The spore body joined the three caudal projections without a style. Caudal projections were bifurcated at the end and the two main branches had further small bifurcations. The total length of the raabeia sport was approximately 158 mu m. The prevalence of infection in 240 experimentally infected Tubifex specimens was 99.2%. No infection was found in the control oligochaetes

Pathological and histopatnotogical studies of the swimbladder of eels Anguilla anguitla infected by Angutlticpta crassus (Nemafoda: Dracuncuioidea)

The swimbladder lesions produced by Anguillicola crassus (Nematoda) infection, causing mass mortality among eels in Lake Balaton (Hungary) were studied by histological methods. In the initial phase of infection, no severe changes developed in the swimbladder wall despite the presence and intensive blood-sucking activity of worms that filled the lumen of the swimbladder. After disruption of the worms and primarily because of repeated reinfection by larvae, however, the wall of the swimblaader markedly thickened and showed degenerative, inflammatory and proliferative changes. Acute processes were characterized by epithelial hyperplasia and hyperaemia of the swimbladder wall. In cases of chronic swimbladder inflammation, oedema and hyperplasia of tissues of the tunica propria, submucosa and serosa could be observed, as well as granulomatoid infiltration by mononuclear cells and fibrinoid degeneration around the larvae

Development of Thelohanellus hovorkai and Thelohanellus nikolskii (Myxosporea : Myxozoa) in oligochaete alternate hosts

The development of Thelohanellus hovorkai, a myxosporean parasite of the connective tissues, and Thelohanellus nikolskii, a fin and scale parasite of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) was studied in experimentally infected oligochaetes Branchiura sowerbyi and Tubifex tubifex, respectively. After infection with mature spores of T. hovorkai, the development of actinosporean stages was first observed light microscopically in the gut of Branchiura sowerbyi 93 days after infection. Free actinospores of T. hovorkai were found in the lumen of the oligochaete's gut 101 days after infection. They were floating in water and showed a typical aurantiactinomyxon form. At 18-22 degrees C, aurantiactinomyxon spores of T. hovorkai emerged from the worms 104 days after infection. The development of T. nikolskii was examined in Tubifex tubifex, from which aurantiactinomyxon spores were released 60 days after infection at 22-24 degrees C. The diameter of spore body was 18.6 mu m and the lenght of caudal processes 29 mu m for T. hovorkai, while 21.1 mu m and 13.4 mu m for T. nikolskii, respectively. The prevalence of aurantiactinomyxon infection in B. sowerbyi for T. hovorkai proved to be 16.7%, while in T. tubifex for T. nikolskii it was 12.5%

Comparison of ovarian cycles of Hungarian riverine fish species representing different spawning strategies

Investigations on the ovarian cycle of fish species that inhabit Hungarian rivers are necessitated by both environmental and economic reasons. The objective of our research was to explore new fundamental knowledge concerning the ovarian cycle of the white bream (Blicca bjoerkna, Linnaeus, 1758), barbel (Barbus barbus, Linnaeus, 1758), orfe (Leuciscus idus, Linnaeus, 1758) and nase (Chondrostoma nasus, Linnaeus, 1758). Histological investigation of ovaries and determination of proportions of oocytes in different stages of development is an appropriate method for the description of spawning characteristics of these species. Our results show that the GSI value for all four investigated species starts to increase at the end of summer and reaches its maximum before spawning. In the barbel and white bream, the presence of oocytes in the stage of cortical alveoli and the heterogeneous size of oocytes in the stage of vitellogenesis in the pre-spawning period indicate that barbel and white bream are multiple spawners. In contrast, in the orfe and nase, the absence of oocytes in the stage of cortical alveoli and the homogeneous size of cells in the stage of vitellogenesis indicate that orfe and nase are single spawners

Cross-infection Experiments Confirm the Host Specificity of Goussia spp. (Eimeriidae: Apicomplexa) Parasitizing Cyprinid Fish

Summary. The host specificity of the coccidian Goussia carpell