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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #424098
Research Project: Maximizing Profitability and Fish Health in Catfish Aquaculture

Location: Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit

Title: Assessment of Bolbophorus damnificus prevalence and cercariae shedding in Planorbella trivolvis populations in catfish aquaculture ponds

Author
item GUNN, MACKENZIE - Mississippi State University
item ALLEN, PETER - Mississippi State University
item ROSSER, THOMAS - Mississippi State University
item WISE, DAVID - Mississippi State University
item GRIFFIN, MATT - Mississippi State University

Submitted to: Journal of the World Aquaculture Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/19/2020
Publication Date: 12/12/2020
Citation: Gunn, M.A., Allen, P.J., Rosser, T.G., Wise, D.J., Griffin, M.J. 2020. Assessment of Bolbophorus damnificus prevalence and cercariae shedding in Planorbella trivolvis populations in catfish aquaculture ponds. Journal of the World Aquaculture Society. 52(2)395-404. https://doi.org/10.1111/jwas.12756.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jwas.12756

Interpretive Summary: This study reveals that while Bolbophorus damnificus is a significant parasite in catfish aquaculture, infected snails make up a small proportion of the overall snail population in affected ponds. The findings suggest that simply reducing snail populations, rather than attempting complete eradication, may be an effective mitigation strategy for managing B. damnificus outbreaks in catfish aquaculture, reducing disease risk without the need for drastic interventions that could have other undesirable consequences. This has important implications for health management, as targeted snail population control may help mitigate impacts of B. damnificus while minimizing treatment costs and effort.

Technical Abstract: Bolbophorus damnificus (Digenea: Bolbophoridae) causes significant losses in US catfish aquaculture. Little is known regarding the prevalence of infected snail hosts during outbreaks. To assess prevalence of snails observed shedding Bolbophorus spp. cercariae, as well as snails that were infected but not observed shedding cercariae, Planorbella trivolvis (n = 8,159) were collected from 14 catfish production ponds with B. damnificus activity in Mississippi, USA. Individual snails were placed in 10'ml of filtered (20 µm) reservoir pond water and observed for 48'hr for cercariae release. Identification of B. damnificus or Bolbophorus sp. type II cercariae was confirmed by duplex PCR. Genomic DNA was isolated from ~100 non-shedding snails from each pond and the PCR assay used to identify the presence of B. damnificus or Bolbophorus sp. type II infected snails. The prevalence of snails shedding B. damnificus ranged from 0.23 to 13.6%. Observation of cercariae shedding underestimated true B. damnificus and Bolbophorus sp. type II prevalence in 42.9 and 64.3% of sampled ponds, respectively. Prevalence of B. damnificus infected snails was typically <3%, indicating numbers of infected snails during outbreaks are low and mitigation efforts may be successful simply by reducing snail numbers and not require complete eradication.