PHYSIOLOGICAL, BIOCHEMICAL AND HISTOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO EXAMINING

• Main Authors: Sea Lice-salmon Interactions, J. F. Burka, G. A. Conboy, D. E. Sims, D. J. Speare, A. Mustafa, N. W. Ross, S. C. Johnson
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.556.4692; http://www-heb.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/congress/2000/papers/diseasepdf/burka.pdf

Sea lice infections are a major concern for salmonid aquaculture operations. Laboratory models have been established to examine interactions between sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) as part of an effort to develop alternate strategies for sea lice control. We have developed methods to grow sea lice from eggs and culture them to the infective stages in tanks under controlled conditions. Sea lice have been maintained on salmon in our re-circulation system for as long as 7 months. Experiments conducted to date include 4 major areas: 1) production of sea lice eggs and assessment of their viability, including production of maximum numbers of infective copepodids, 2)effects of sea lice on the development of chronic stress and suppression of host salmon defence mechanisms, 3) identification of factors (eg. enzymes) in mucus that change during the course of infection and characterization of their source and roles, and 4) examination of resistance of recovered and naive Atlantic salmon to sea lice. A r view of our research to date is presented. Development of standardized methodology enabling consistent and repeatable