Efficacy of emamectin benzoate in the control of Argulus coregoni (Crustacea: Branchiura) on rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss.

Efficacy of in-feed treatment with emamectin benzoate (Slice) for the control of ectoparasitic Argulus coregoni on rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss was tested under laboratory and field conditions. In both experiments fish were fed with fish feed to deliver a therapeutic dose of 0 (control) or 50 microg emamectin benzoate kg(-1) d(-1) (treatment) for a period of 7 d. After 3 d of challenge with A. coregoni in the laboratory, the infestation level in treated fish was lower than that observed in the controls (p < 0.001). Efficacy of 100% against newly hatched A. coregoni metanauplii and adults and 80% against juveniles was observed. In the field, trial medication was undertaken at 2 sections on a flow-through canal with 1 wk between treatments. Mean infestations of 100 to 200 A. coregoni per fish with 100% prevalence was recorded prior to medication. Following the treatment, the mean infestation of A. coregoni on fish declined to 31 lice per fish at Section A and 2.5 lice per fish at Section B. Then, after 28 d of treatment, the number of lice per fish was < 1 at Section A; in contrast the mean number of A. coregoni per fish at the control section was > 20. The prevalence of A. coregoni remained < 50% over a period of 72 d of treatment, but started to increase again thereafter. This suggests that emamectin benzoate concentration in fish remained at a level high enough to kill A. coregoni over a period of 9 wk. Emamectin benzoate was very effective in the control of A. coregoni infesting trout.

Spatial distribution and hatching of overwintered eggs of a fish ectoparasite, Argulus coregoni (Crustacea: Branchiura).

The habitat distribution of overwintered eggs, which were found to be the only source of spring recruitment of Argulus coregoni Thorell, was studied at a commercial fish farm in Central Finland. The frequency of occurrence of egg clutches in the deep parts of the canals and ponds was 50 to 80% and the percentage cover of the surface of stones with egg clutches was 1.7 to 6.4%, while in the shallow parts these values were 8 to 27% and 0.1 to 0.3%, respectively. A greater proportion of empty egg-shells was observed in shallow water in the mid-May, suggesting an earlier hatching there stimulated by the increased temperature and higher illumination. Under laboratory conditions, only elevated UV illumination, but not diurnally fluctuating temperature, significantly accelerated hatching. Normally overwintered eggs produced a pronounced peak of hatched larvae at the end of May and hatching continued at a much slower rate throughout the summer. Eggs that overwintered twice, first normally and then for a second time buried under sediments, were exposed to the same laboratory conditions simultaneously with normally overwintered eggs, but their hatching was delayed until August. The hatching rate was low, but markedly increased in December.