Synopsis
We described skeletal deformities in Willamette River fishes from larval and juvenile specimens collected in 2002 and 2003. Deformities were found in most taxa examined but were more frequent in native broadcast spawners, especially minnows and suckers, than in native or exotic nest builders. Caudal deformities were uniformly distributed throughout the river, but precaudal deformities were more localized near the towns of Newberg and Salem (Wheatland Ferry). In northern pikeminnow, Ptychocheilus oregonensis, deformities were dependent on relative hatch date, with early season fish having about three times the deformity load as late season fish. In a subsample of northern pikeminnow and chiselmouth, Acrocheilus alutaceus, number of deformities was directly related to number of trematode metacercariae and precaudal deformities were twice as likely as caudal deformities to be associated with metacercariae. Based on a logistic regression, the probability of a precaudal deformity was dependent on number of metacercariae and geographic area with the area effect disappearing as the number of cysts increased. A separate analysis showed that some types of deformities were unlikely to be associated with metacercariae. However, even in cases where metacercariae were unlikely to be associated with deformities, metacercariae were usually present elsewhere in the fish and an indirect effect could not be dismissed. The taxonomic, spatial and temporal patterns of skeletal deformities in Willamette River fishes may be due to differences in intermediate host (snail or fish) resistance or susceptibility to parasites, to differences in life history ecology, or to anthropogenic effects that are manifest in increased precaudal deformities near Newberg and Wheatland Ferry or decreased rates elsewhere.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
C.J. Bayne U.K. Hahn R.C. Bender (2001) ArticleTitleMechanisms of molluscan host resistance and of parasite strategies for survival Parasitology 123 159–167 Occurrence Handle10.1017/S0031182001008137
C.M. Breder D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of Reproduction in Fishes The Natural History Press Garden City, New York 941
S.G. Ellis S.T. Deschler R. Miller (1997) Characterizing fish assemblages in the Willamette River, Oregon, using three different bioassessment techniques A. Laenen D.A. Dunette (Eds) River Quality: Dynamics and Restoration CRC Press Boca Raton, FL. 347–364
G.W. Esch (1994) Population biology of the diplostomatid trematode Uvulifer ambloplitis M.E. Scott G. Smith (Eds) Parasitic and Infectious Diseases, Epidemiology and Ecology Academic Press New York
T.A. Ginetsinskaia (1968) Trematodes, their Life Cycles, Biology and Evolution Amerind Publishing New Delhi 559
D. Hulse S. Gregory J. Baker (Eds) (2002) Willamette River basin planning atlas, trajectories of environmental and ecological change Oregon State University Press Corvallis, OR 178
G. Iwama T. Nakanishi (1996) The Fish Immune System, Organism, Pathogen and Environment Academic Press New York 380
Z. Jeney E.T. Valtonen G. Jeney E.I. Jokinen (2002) ArticleTitleEffect of pulp and paper mill effluent (BKME) on physiological parameters of roach (Rutilus rutilus) infected by the digenean Rhipidocotyle fennica Folia Parasitologica 49 103–108 Occurrence Handle12194482
S.G. Johnson (2000) ArticleTitlePopulation structure, parasitism, and survivorship of sexual and autodiploid partheogenetic Campeloma limum Evolution 54 167–175 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD3cvjsFOlsQ%3D%3D Occurrence Handle10937193
M.L. Kent V.G. Watral C. Whipps M.E. Cunningham C.D. Criscione J.R. Heidel L.R. Curtis J Spitsbergen D.F. Markle (2004) ArticleTitleDigenean metacercariae and a myxozoan resembling Myxobolus cyprini associated with skeletal lesions in cyprinid fishes from Willamette River Oregon. J. Aquatic Animal Health 16 116–129 Occurrence Handle10.1577/H04-004.1
J.M. Kiesecker (2002) ArticleTitleSynergism between trematode infection and pesticide exposure: a link to amphibian limb deformities in nature? Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99 9900–9904 Occurrence Handle10.1073/pnas.152098899 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD38XlslKgsbw%3D Occurrence Handle12118118
A. Laenen J.R. Dojlido (1997) The Willamette and Vistula rivers: contrast and comparison A. Laenen D.A. Dunette (Eds) River Quality: Dynamics and Restoration CRC Press Boca Raton, FL 3–19
K.D. Lafferty (1997) ArticleTitleEnvironmental parasitology: what can parasites tell us about human impacts on the environment? Parasitol. Today 13 251–255 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0169-4758(97)01072-7 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD2cznsFSruw%3D%3D Occurrence Handle15275061
K.D. Lafferty A.K. Morris (1996) ArticleTitleAltered behavior of parasitized killifish increases susceptibility to predation by bird final hosts Ecology 77 1390–1397
P.L. Leberg R.C. Vrijenhoeck (1994) ArticleTitleVariation among desert topminnows in their susceptibility to attack by exotic parasites Conserv. Biol 8 419–424 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1523-1739.1994.08020419.x
A.D. Lemly G.W. Esch (1984) ArticleTitleEffects of the trematode Uvulifer ambloplitis on juvenile bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus, ecological implications J. Parasitol. 70 475–492
D.F. Markle R. French S. Naman J. Demarest M. Hatfield (2002) ArticleTitleHistorical patterns of skeletal deformities in fishes from the Willamette River, Oregon Northwestern Naturalist 83 7–14
D.R. Niemi R.W. Macy (1974) ArticleTitleThe life cycle and infectivity to man of Apophallus donicus (Skrjabin & Lindtop, 1919) (Trematoda: Heterophyidae) in Oregon Proc. Helminthol. Soc. Washington 41 223–229
Potthoff, T. 1984. Clearing and staining techniques. pp. 35–37. In: H.G. Moser (ed.), Ontogeny and Systematics of Fishes. Special Publication No. 1, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.
T. Reimchen P. Nosil (2001) ArticleTitleEcological causes of sex-biased parasitism in threespine stickleback Biol. J. Linnean Soc. 73 51–63 Occurrence Handle10.1006/bijl.2001.0523
Statistical Graphics Corporation. 1994–2000. Statgraphics Plus 5.0. 000 pp.
M.L. Steinauer W.F. Font (2003) ArticleTitleSeasonal dynamics of the helminths of bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) in a subtropical region J. Parasitol 89 324–328 Occurrence Handle12760648
B.G. Tabachnick L.S. Fidell (1996) Using Multivariate Statistics Harper Collins New York 966
J.S. Terhune D.J. Wise H. Khoo L. (2002) ArticleTitleBolbophorus confusus infections in channel catfish in Northwestern Mississippi and effects of water temperature on emergence of cercariae from infected snails North Am. J. Aquacul. 64 70–74 Occurrence Handle10.1577/1548-8454(2002)064<0070:BCIICC>2.0.CO;2
Wydoski R.S., Whitney R.R. (2003). Inland Fishes of Washington State, University of Washington Press, Seattle. 384 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cunningham, M., Markle, D., Watral, V. et al. Patterns of fish deformities and their association with trematode cysts in the Willamette River, Oregon. Environ Biol Fish 73, 9–19 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-004-3153-5
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-004-3153-5