Echinococcosis is a parasitic disease caused by tapeworms of the Echinococcus type. The two main types of the disease are cystic echinococcosis and alveolar echinococcosis. Less common forms include polycystic echinococcosis and unicystic echinococcosis.
The dinoflagellates are a monophyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes constituting the phylum Dinoflagellata and are usually considered protists. Dinoflagellates are mostly marine plankton, but they are also common in freshwater habitats. Their populations vary with sea surface temperature, salinity, and depth. Many dinoflagellates are photosynthetic, but a large fraction of these are in fact mixotrophic, combining photosynthesis with ingestion of prey.
Pfiesteria piscicida is a dinoflagellate species of the genus Pfiesteria that some researchers claim was responsible for many harmful algal blooms in the 1980s and 1990s on the coast of North Carolina and Maryland. North Carolinian media in the 1990s referred to the organism as the cell from hell. It is known to populate estuaries. Piscicida means "fish-killer".
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.
Zooxanthellae is a colloquial term for single-celled dinoflagellates that are able to live in symbiosis with diverse marine invertebrates including demosponges, corals, jellyfish, and nudibranchs. Most known zooxanthellae are in the genus Symbiodinium, but some are known from the genus Amphidinium, and other taxa, as yet unidentified, may have similar endosymbiont affinities. The true Zooxanthella K.brandt is a mutualist of the radiolarian Collozoum inerme and systematically placed in Peridiniales. Another group of unicellular eukaryotes that partake in similar endosymbiotic relationships in both marine and freshwater habitats are green algae zoochlorellae.
Myxobolus cerebralis is a myxosporean parasite of salmonids that causes whirling disease in farmed salmon and trout and also in wild fish populations. It was first described in rainbow trout in Germany in 1893, but its range has spread and it has appeared in most of Europe, the United States, South Africa, Canada and other countries from shipments of cultured and wild fish. In the 1980s, M. cerebralis was found to require a tubificid oligochaete to complete its life cycle. The parasite infects its hosts with its cells after piercing them with polar filaments ejected from nematocyst-like capsules. This infects the cartilage and possibly the nervous tissue of salmonids, causing a potentially lethal infection in which the host develops a black tail, spinal deformities, and possibly more deformities in the anterior part of the fish.
Velvet disease is a fish disease caused by dinoflagellate parasites of the genera Amyloodinium in marine fish, and Oodinium in freshwater fish. The disease gives infected organisms a dusty, brownish-gold color. The disease occurs most commonly in tropical fish, and to a lesser extent, marine aquaria. Periodic use of preventive treatments like aquarium salt can further deter parasites. Regular monitoring, attentive care, and preventive measures collectively contribute to keeping fish healthy and velvet-free.
Swimmer's itch, cercarial dermatitis or schistosome dermatitis is a short-term allergic contact dermatitis occurring in the skin of humans that have been infected by water-borne schistosomes, a type of flatworm. It is common in freshwater, brackish and marine habitats worldwide. The incidence of this condition may be increasing, although this may be attributed to better monitoring and reporting. Nevertheless, the condition is considered to be an emerging infectious disease.
The common goldfish is a breed of goldfish and a family of Cyprinidae in the order cypriniformes. Goldfish are descendants of wild carp from East Asia. Most varieties of fancy goldfish were derived from this simple breed. Common goldfish come in a variety of colors including red, orange, red/white, white/black, yellow/white, blue, grey/brown, olive green, yellow, white, and black, with the most common variation being orange, hence the name. The brightness, duration, and vividness of the color may be an indication of the fish's health status, but not always, as water conditions and quality of care affect the fish's appearance.
A xenoma is a growth caused by various protists and fungi, most notably microsporidia. It can occur on numerous organisms; however is predominantly found on fish.
Karenia is a genus that consists of unicellular, photosynthetic, planktonic organisms found in marine environments. The genus currently consists of 12 described species. They are best known for their dense toxic algal blooms and red tides that cause considerable ecological and economical damage; some Karenia species cause severe animal mortality. One species, Karenia brevis, is known to cause respiratory distress and neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP) in humans.
Copper toxicity is a type of metal poisoning caused by an excess of copper in the body. Copperiedus could occur from consuming excess copper salts, but most commonly it is the result of the genetic condition Wilson's disease and Menke's disease, which are associated with mismanaged transport and storage of copper ions. Copper is essential to human health as it is a component of many proteins, but hypercupremia can lead to copper toxicity if it persists and rises high enough.
Nanophyetus salmincola is a food-borne intestinal trematode parasite prevalent on the Pacific Northwest coast. The species may be the most common trematode endemic to the United States.
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.
Hematodinium is a genus of dinoflagellates. Species in this genus, such as Hematodinium perezi, the type species, are internal parasites of the hemolymph of crustaceans such as the Atlantic blue crab and Norway lobster. Species in the genus are economically damaging to commercial crab fisheries, including causing bitter crab disease in the large Tanner or snow crab fisheries of the Bering Sea.
Amoebophrya is a genus of dinoflagellates. Members of the Amoebophrya genus are syndinian parasites that infect free-living dinoflagellates and have varying degrees of host specificity The parasites might act as "biological control agents for red tides and aid in defining species of Amoebophrya." Researchers have found a correlation between host specify and the impact host parasites may have on other organisms. Due to the host specificity found in each strain of Amoebophrya's physical makeup, further studies need to be tested to determine whether the Amoebophrya can act as a control against harmful algal blooms.
Telogaster opisthorchis is an endoparasite in the class Trematoda within the phylum Platyhelminthes. This fluke is known for causing tumor like malformations in fishes by attaching onto its spinal region in the metacercariae form. Malformations cause fish to become more susceptible to fish eating predators allowing T. opisthorchis to continue with its lifecycle.
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.
Black spot disease is a disease affecting fish. It is caused by larvae (metacercariae) of Diplostomatidae or Heterophyidae flatworms, which are encysted in the skin. It can affect both freshwater and marine fish. It appears as tiny black spots on the skin, fins, and flesh of the fish.
Coccidinium is a genus of parasitic syndinian dinoflagellates that infect the nucleus and cytoplasm of other marine dinoflagellates. Coccidinium, along with two other dinoflagellate genera, Amoebophyra and Duboscquella, contain species that are the primary endoparasites of marine dinoflagellates. While numerous studies have been conducted on the genus Amoebophyra, specifically Amoebophyra ceratii, little is known about Coccidinium. These microscopic organisms have gone relatively unstudied after the initial observations of Édouard Chatton and Berthe Biecheler in 1934 and 1936.
