| Cryptocaryon irritans | |
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| Yellow tang with white spots characteristic of marine ich | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | |
| (unranked): | |
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| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Genus: | Cryptocaryon |
| Species: | C. irritans |
| Binomial name | |
| Cryptocaryon irritans | |
Cryptocaryon irritans is a species of ciliates that parasitizes marine fish, causing marine white spot disease or marine ich (pronounced ick). [1] [2] It is one of the most common causes of disease in marine aquaria.
Cryptocaryon irritans was originally classified as Ichthyophthirius marinus, but it is not closely related to the other species. It belongs to the class Prostomatea, but beyond that its placement is still uncertain.
The symptoms and life-cycle are generally similar to those of Ichthyophthirius in freshwater fish, including white spots, on account of which Cryptocaryon is usually called marine ich. However, Cryptocaryon can spend a much longer time encysted. Fish that are infected with Cryptocaryon may have small white spots, nodules, or patches on their skin, fins, or gills. They may also have ragged fins, cloudy eyes, pale gills, increased mucus production, or changes in skin color, and they may appear thin. Behavioural changes may be observed, such as scratching, abnormal swimming, lethargy, hanging at the surface or bottom of the tank, or breathing rapidly as if in distress. [3]
Useful treatments (but not safe for reef tanks or invertebrates) of Cryptocaryon irritans are copper solutions, formalin solutions and quinine based drugs (such as chloroquine phosphate and quinine diphosphate).
Infections can be extremely difficult to treat because of the presence of other creatures in the tank, such as corals and other invertebrates, which will not survive standard treatments. Ideally fish with Cryptocaryon are quarantined in a hospital tank, where they can be treated with a copper salt or using hyposalinity, 1.009 specific gravity. The display tank needs to be kept clear of fish for 6–9 weeks, the longer the better. This gives time for the encysted tomonts to release infectious theronts, which die within 24–48 hours when they cannot find a host.
Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, often termed "Ich", is a parasitic ciliate described by the French parasitologist Fouquet in 1876. Only one species is found in the genus which also gave name to the family. The name literally translates as "the fish louse with many children". The parasite can infect most freshwater fish species and, in contrast to many other parasites, shows low host specificity. It penetrates gill epithelia, skin and fins of the fish host and resides as a feeding stage inside the epidermis. It is visible as a white spot on the surface of the fish but, due to its internal microhabitat, it is a true endoparasite and not an ectoparasite.
Pterophyllum is a small genus of freshwater fish from the family Cichlidae known to most aquarists as angelfish. All Pterophyllum species originate from the Amazon Basin, Orinoco Basin and various rivers in the Guiana Shield in tropical South America. The three species of Pterophyllum are unusually shaped for cichlids being greatly laterally compressed, with round bodies and elongated triangular dorsal and anal fins. This body shape allows them to hide among roots and plants, often on a vertical surface. Naturally occurring angelfish are frequently striped transversely, colouration which provides additional camouflage. Angelfish are ambush predators and prey on small fish and macroinvertebrates. All Pterophyllum species form monogamous pairs. Eggs are generally laid on a submerged log or a flattened leaf. As is the case for other cichlids, brood care is highly developed.
Monogeneans, members of the class Monogenea, are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female reproductive structures.
The sailfin molly is a livebearer fish typically found in both freshwater and brackish waterways along the East Coast of the United States, from North Carolina south to Florida, and around the Gulf of Mexico to Texas, and south to the Yucatán Peninsula of México. Given their preference for more brackish water conditions, mollies are often found within just a few yards or miles of the ocean, inhabiting coastal estuaries, lagoons, river deltas and swamps, as well as tidal areas with a regular inflow of oceanic minerals and nutrients mixing with inland freshwater sources.
Fin rot is a symptom of disease or the actual disease in fish. This is a disease which is most often observed in aquaria and aquaculture, but can also occur in natural populations.
Ich, ich or ICH may refer to:
The family Argulidae, whose members are commonly known as carp lice or fish lice, are parasitic crustaceans in the class Ichthyostraca. It is the only family in the monotypic subclass Branchiura and the order Arguloida, although a second family, Dipteropeltidae, has been proposed. Although they are thought to be primitive forms, they have no fossil record.
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Ornamental fish kept in aquariums are susceptible to numerous diseases. Due to their generally small size and the low cost of replacing diseased or dead fish, the cost of testing and treating diseases is often seen as more trouble than the value of the fish.
The raccoon butterflyfish, also known as the crescent-masked butterflyfish, lunule butterflyfish, halfmoon butterflyfish, moon butterflyfish, raccoon butterfly, raccoon, raccoon coralfish, and redstriped butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Hematodinium perezi is a pathogenic dinoflagellate parasite that infects crustaceans, including the Blue Crab and Norway Lobster and has been observed to have a significant impact on crustacean fisheries. Infected crustaceans frequently show signs of weakness and lethargy, and often die due to stress-related handling from fishing as well as metabolic exhaustion due to reduced feeding. This parasite is known to be quite transmissible between various crustacean hosts.
White Spot is a Canadian restaurant chain.
Amoebic gill disease (AGD) is a potentially fatal disease of some marine fish. It is caused by Neoparamoeba perurans, the most important amoeba in cultured fish. It primarily affects farm-raised fish of the family Salmonidae, most notably affecting the Tasmanian Atlantic salmon industry, costing the A$20 million a year in treatments and lost productivity. Turbot, bass, bream, sea urchins and crabs have also been infected.
The guppy, also known as millionfish or the rainbow fish, is one of the world's most widely distributed tropical fish and one of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish species. It is a member of the family Poeciliidae and, like almost all American members of the family, is live-bearing. Guppies originate from northeast South America, but have been introduced to many environments and are now found all over the world. They are highly adaptable and thrive in many different environmental and ecological conditions. Male guppies, which are smaller than females, have ornamental caudal and dorsal fins. Wild guppies generally feed on a variety of food sources, including benthic algae and aquatic insect larvae. Guppies are used as a model organism in the fields of ecology, evolution, and behavioural studies.
Like humans and other animals, fish suffer from diseases and parasites. Fish defences against disease are specific and non-specific. Non-specific defences include skin and scales, as well as the mucus layer secreted by the epidermis that traps microorganisms and inhibits their growth. If pathogens breach these defences, fish can develop inflammatory responses that increase the flow of blood to infected areas and deliver white blood cells that attempt to destroy the pathogens.
Amyloodinium ocellatum is a cosmopolitan ectoparasite dinoflagellate of numerous aquatic organisms living in brackish and seawater environments. The dinoflagellate is endemic in temperate and tropical areas, and is capable of successfully adapting to a variety of different environments and to a great number of hosts, having been identified in four phyla of aquatic organisms: Chordata, Arthropoda, Mollusca and Platyhelminthes. Moreover, it is the only dinoflagellate capable of infecting teleosts and elasmobranchs.
Miamiensis avidus is a species of unicellular marine eukaryote that is a parasite of many different types of fish. It is one of several organisms known to cause the fish disease scuticociliatosis and is considered an economically significant pathogen of farmed fish. M. avidus is believed to be the cause of a 2017 die-off of fish and sharks in the San Francisco Bay.
Philasterides dicentrarchi is a marine protozoan ciliate that was first identified in 1995 after being isolated from infected European sea bass reared in France. The species was also identified as the causative agent of outbreaks of scuticociliatosis that occurred between summer 1999 and spring 2000 in turbot cultivated in the Atlantic Ocean. Infections caused by P. dicentrarchi have since been observed in turbot reared in both open flow and recirculating production systems. In addition, the ciliate has also been reported to cause infections in other flatfishes, such as the olive flounder in Korea and the fine flounder in Peru, as well as in seadragons, seahorses, and several species of sharks in other parts of the world.
Scuticociliatosis is a severe and often fatal parasitic infection of several groups of marine organisms. Species known to be susceptible include a broad range of teleosts, seahorses, sharks, and some crustaceans. The disease can be caused by any one of about 20 distinct species of unicellular eukaryotes known as scuticociliates, which are free-living marine microorganisms that are opportunistic or facultative parasites. Scuticociliatosis has been described in the wild, in captive animals in aquariums, and in aquaculture. It is best studied in fish species that are commonly farmed, in which typical effects of infection include skin ulceration, hemorrhage, and necrosis, with post-mortem examination identifying ciliates in the skin, gills, blood, and internal organs including the brain.
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