Temperature effects on hatching and viability of Juvenile Gill Lice, Salmincola californiensis.

Salmonids of the genus Oncorhynchus, distributed throughout the Pacific Rim, can be infected by the gill lice species Salmincola californiensis (Dana, 1852), which makes them one of the most broadly distributed gill lice species. Despite their broad distribution and valuable obligate salmonid hosts, relatively little is known about S. californiensis. We evaluated effects of temperature on timing of S. californiensis hatching and survival of copepodids, and provide information on brood size and variability. Our results suggest that temperature was a primary driver of timing of S. californiensis hatching and post-hatching survival. Prior to this study, the free-swimming stage of S. californiensis was reported to survive approximately 2 days without a suitable host. We observed active copepodids 13 days after hatch with some individuals from most (>90%) viable egg sacs at all temperature treatments surviving ≥5 days. Our findings indicate that warmer temperatures could increase development rates of gill lice at certain life stages, potentially increasing fecundity. This information coupled with predictions that warmer water temperatures could intensify crowding of coldwater fishes, stress, and parasite transmission suggests that climate change could exacerbate negative effects of S. californiensis on ecologically and economically important salmonids.

Clupeid response to stressors: the influence of environmental factors on thiaminase expression.

Over the past five decades, a reproductive failure related to thiamine deficiency, referred to as thiamine deficiency complex (TDC), has been observed in valuable salmonine fishes in the Great Lakes and Finger Lakes in North America and the Baltic Sea in Europe. The cause of TDC has been linked to the consumption of clupeid fish, which contain high levels of a thiamine-destroying enzyme called thiaminase I (hereafter referred to as "thiaminase"). High activities of thiaminase have been reported from clupeids such as Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, Gizzard Shad Dorosoma cepedianum and Atlantic (Baltic) Herring Clupea harengus, but no consistent explanation has accounted for the wide range of observed variation in levels of thiaminase in clupeids. Chronic stress can suppress the immune systems of Alewife and other fishes, thereby reducing the number of circulating white blood cells available to suppress bacteria. Because the presence of thiaminase has been associated with thiaminolytic bacteria isolated from Alewife viscera, we hypothesized that stressful conditions, which can potentially limit clupeid immune response or alter internal physiological conditions, could allow for thiaminase to be produced more efficiently by bacteria or thiaminolytic bacteria could proliferate, or both events could occur, resulting in a subsequent increase in thiaminolytic activity. In this study, Alewives and Gizzard Shad were exposed to severe winter temperatures and low food availability, respectively, in replicated pond experiments to evaluate the influence of stressful conditions on clupeid thiaminase activity. Though responses in circulating white blood cell counts and metrics of fish condition indicated that experimental treatments affected these clupeids, these effects were not related to increased thiaminase activity. The only significant treatment effect on clupeid thiaminase was an increase in mean thiaminase activity in Gizzard Shad from ponds where only high quality energy sources were available. These data indicate that variability in clupeid thiaminase may be related to diet composition.

Relative influence of prey mercury concentration, prey energy density and predator sex on sport fish mercury concentrations.

Mercury (Hg) bioaccumulation in aquatic food webs has created a human health concern for anglers who consume fish. Variability in sport fish Hg concentration adds to the uncertainty of the amount of fish an angler can safely consume, so predicting where variability arises is useful. We evaluated the relative influence of diet (prey Hg concentration and energy density) and sex on sport fish Hg concentrations using a bioenergetics approach. Our results indicated that sport fish diets (prey Hg concentration followed by energy density) were the most important factors for determining sport fish Hg concentration followed by sex. Although physiological and behavioral differences based on sex may lead to differences in gross growth efficiency, resulting in different Hg concentrations in male and female sport fish, evaluating the relative importance of these differences will require sex-specific parameterization of bioenergetics models. Our results support previous findings that knowledge of sport fish diets (prey Hg concentration followed by energy density) and sex could aid in the prediction of sport fish Hg concentrations. Thus, basic knowledge of system-specific food web structure could provide valuable information for developing sport fish consumption advisories to better protect anglers and their families from Hg contamination.