Pathogenicity of Vibrio anguillarum for Juvenile Winter Flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus

1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 1045-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. D. Watkins ◽  
R. E. Wolke ◽  
V. J. Cabelli

The pathogenicity of Vibrio anguillarum for juvenile winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, was quantitatively established under laboratory conditions. Fish were obtained from Rhode Island waters, acclimatized in tanks for 4–6 wk, and then challenged with V. anguillarum. The LD50 was relatively constant for 24–to 72-h cultures of the organism using intraperitoneal, intramuscular, and intravenous challenge routes. The LD50 via oral inoculation was about 3 logs greater. The LD50 for fish collected, acclimatized, and challenged during the winter was ~3 logs less than that found for fish in the summer. The median intramuscular LD50 for 11 strains examined under the optimum conditions for infection was 2.4 × 105 (range 7.3 × 104 to 1.6 × 106) organisms. Gross and histopathological changes in the acute form of the disease were minimal, being limited to anemia, leucopenia, ecchymosis and necrosis at the site of inoculation, and behavioral changes. A chronic form of vibriosis was observed primarily during the summer in fish given sublethal doses. A potent, lethal V. anguillarum toxin could not be demonstrated. Potentially, this reproducible host–parasite system might have use in a short-term bioassay procedure for toxic pollutants of the marine environment.Key words: Vibrio anguillarum, winter founder, LD50, histopathological changes, acute and chronic vibriosis, toxin, bioassay

1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1057-1066 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Perry Jeffries ◽  
William C. Johnson

Weekly bottom trawl samples taken in Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound from January 1966 through December 1972 showed patterns of occurrence within a diverse assemblage of migratory and resident stocks. Relative abundance of winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus), the commonest species in the Bay, appeared to be associated with climatic trends but not with fishing pressure. Catch decreased 78% from 1968 to 1972. Average temperature during 30-mo periods, the time required for flounder to reach catchable size, explained 76% of variation in abundance through the study. Annual abundance in the Bay is also reflected 2–3 yr later in the commercial catch. A speculative explanation for control of the population in an estuarine nursery is developed, based on subtle climatic trends whose effects have been magnified many times over by competitive processes among migratory populations.The sand flounder (Scophthalmus aquosus), second in general abundance, varied far less than the winter flounder. Catches of the lobster (Homarus americanus) and winter flounder were directly related, both on a monthly as well as yearly basis. The remaining species of numerical importance appeared to avoid peak abundances of one another in the Bay and Sound; rarely did seasonal maxima of two or more species occur during the same month.


1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 650-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Perry Jeffries ◽  
Aimee Keller ◽  
Stephen Hale

Long-term changes in catches of winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) were compared at five locations within Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA and in three areas directly offshore. In the lower Bay, relative abundance decreased 86% during warming in the early 1970's, recovered briefly, and then declined to an all-time low in 1986. Time-series analysis successfully predicted a recovery in 1987. Year ahead predictions, based on annual models, had a maximum error of 14% (1986); monthly forecasts explained 62–72% of catch variation during the entire investigation; cumulative monthly error (forecast compared with actual over an annual cycle) was 11% in the Bay and 21% offshore. Commercial offshore catch and the fish retained on power plant intake screens in two major rivers showed the same 11-yr pattern of population fall and recovery detected in the lower Bay. Coherent behavior was also demonstrated by the similarity of random processes which generated the time-series data. Thus a single time-series model for southern New England winter flounder seems feasible.


1965 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 945-954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saul B. Saila ◽  
Donald B. Horton ◽  
Richard J. Berry

A model of the life history of the winter flounder was constructed using empirical estimates of vital statistics. The initial stock weight of juveniles was determined by substituting trial initial stock weight values into equations which contained average values of growth and mortality coefficients until the observed value of the equilibrium yield was approximated. Model data indicated that the stock weight of juvenile winter flounder at an age of 5 months constituted a significant proportion of the equilibrium yield even with conservative estimates of model coefficients. Growth appeared to be sufficiently rapid during early life-history stages to provide for a large increase in biomass in spite of considerable natural mortality.


1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Cali ◽  
Peter M. Takvorian

The microsporidium Glugea stephani is endemic in winter flounder from the New york – New Jersey area. The prevalence of infection fluctuates with water temperature on a seasonal basis, increasing in summer and decreasing in winter. From March 1981 through December 1983, 32 monthly collections were conducted. During this period 4002 winter flounder were caught and examined, 301 (7.5%) of which were infected. Data collected during the study indicated that although several factors may influence the host–parasite interaction, only water temperature changes could be statistically correlated with G. stephani infection in this winter flounder population. In an effort to determine what factors other than temperature affect prevalence of infection, fish length, sex, diet, and spawning behaviour were examined. Although these factors do not, at first, appear to influence infectivity, stress imposed on the host by physiological and environmental changes may be significant. Our results are compared with those from G. stephani in its type host, the European flounder Platichthys flesus.


2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (11) ◽  
pp. 2233-2246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison K DeLong ◽  
Jeremy S Collie ◽  
Carol J Meise ◽  
J Christopher Powell

This study quantifies the combined effects of density and environmental factors on young-of-the-year (YOY) winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. We used a length-based model to estimate growth and mortality rates from June to October each year from 1988 to 1998. In this model, mortality and growth rates are decreasing functions of length and there is variability in individual growth. Maximum-likelihood methods were used to fit the model to length-frequency data collected by the Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife beach-seine survey in Narragansett Bay during the study years. The monthly mortality rate was density dependent and was positively related to temperature. Growth rate was negatively related to density. There was a significant decline in YOY winter flounder abundance during the period of study. The most recent year of the study, 1998, had the lowest density, lowest mortality, low summer temperature, and high growth rate. Thus, growth and mortality during the juvenile stage do not appear to be limiting the recovery of this depleted winter flounder population.


1972 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 1585-1592 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Levin ◽  
R. E. Wolke ◽  
V. J. Cabelli

Vibrio anguillarum was repeatedly isolated from skin and muscle lesions of the winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus. The dermal lesions, usually accompanied by fin necrosis, included petechiae and ecchymoses in their acute phase and frank ulceration in their more chronic manifestations. Anemia, as evidenced by lowered hematocrit values and increased renal hematopoiesis, was present. The disease was reproduced experimentally by the intradermal injection of as few as 640 V. anguillarum cells. The differential identification of the V. anguillarum isolates from aeromonads, plesiomonads, and other marine vibrios was described and discussed.


2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (12) ◽  
pp. 2382-2392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aimee A Keller ◽  
Grace Klein-MacPhee

Winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) is a dominant commercial fish in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, and yet factors controlling its recruitment remain unclear. An experiment was conducted with six 13-m3 land-based mesocosms (5 m deep) from February to April 1997 to address the impact of increased temperature (+3°C) on growth, survival, and trophic dynamics of winter flounder larvae. Objectives were to determine if warmer winter temperatures result in lower survival of winter flounder as a result of increased predator activity or if temperature-induced alterations in the food web result in greater food availability, perhaps leading to increased survival. Analyses of variance revealed significant (P < 0.05) or near-significant (P < 0.10) differences in phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance and biomass between warm and cool mesocosms. Winter flounder egg survival, percent hatch, time to hatch, and initial size were significantly greater in cool systems (P < 0.05). Mortality rates were lower in cool systems and significantly related to the abundance of active predators (P < 0.05). The cumulative impact of decreased survival of eggs and larvae in warm systems may partially explain the decline of winter flounder in Narragansett Bay, which has experienced elevated winter water temperatures in recent years.


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