Polypodium hydriforme(Coelenterata) in Paddlefish from the Upper Missouri River Drainage

Abstract

Polypodium hydriforme, a parasitic coelenterate infecting oocytes of acipenserid fishes, is reported from the upper Missouri River drainage. This finding extends the known distribution of P. hydriforme northward from the Osage River near Jefferson City, Missouri. Polypodium hydriforme has also been recovered from the Lake Huron drainage. The parasite was found in eggs from 4 of 5 artificially spawned paddlefish Polyodon spathula in South Dakota and North Dakota, and 6 of 19 paddlefish, untreated with hormones, at Intake, Montana. Less than 1% of the paddlefish eggs were infected. Although there are few specific characteristics for identification, the form morphometrically and histologically analyzed agrees with the description off. hydriforme.

Epidemiology of Polypodium hydriforme in American Paddlefish

“…The 49% and 45% infection prevalences detected here for Paddlefish sampled in 2017 and 2018, respectively, suggest that the prevalence may not vary much from year to year. Prevalences of P. hydriforme in Paddlefish reported by others (or estimated here from descriptions provided) include 41% (10 out of 24 fish variously sampled in the upper Missouri River drainage [in South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana]; Holloway et al., 1991), 75% (6 out of 8 fish caught at different times of the year from the Osage River, Missouri; Raikova et al., 1979) and 88% (number of fish sampled from the Osage River in Missouri not provided; Suppes & Meyer, 1975). Further investigations based on large sample sizes are required to determine whether infection prevalence varies substantially over greater spatial or temporal scales.…”

“…Aquaculture may not mitigate against such impacts as it often depends on capture of wild, gravid individuals which are then pushed to ovulation via hormone injections. P. hydriforme stolons have been observed to emerge from such hormonally treated Paddlefish (Holloway et al., 1991). The prolonged high densities and close quarters experienced by Paddlefish in aquaculture (from eggs in hatching jars to fingerlings in circular raceways) may promote infection of larvae, and this could ultimately contribute to fish population declines if aquaculture is used for restoration stocking purposes.…”

“…There have been sporadic publications concerning infections identified as either Polypodium sp. or P. hydriforme in populations of North American sturgeons (including Shovelnose Sturgeon [ Scaphirhynchus platorynchus Rafinesque 1820], Lake Sturgeon [ A. fulvescens Rafinesque 1817], White Sturgeon [ A. transmontanus Richardson 1836] (Dick, Holloway, & Choudhury, 1991; Fisheries & Oceans Canada, 2014; Hoffman, Raikova, & Yoder, 1974; Sepúlveda, Stefanavage, & Goforth, 2010) and American Paddlefish ( Polyodon spathula Walbaum 1792) (Holloway, Dick, & Ottinger, 1991; Raikova, Suppes, & Hoffmann, 1979; Suppes & Meyer, 1975)). At present, a single species of P. hydriforme is recognized.…”

Serum Lysozyme Levels in Paddlefish and Walleye

“…Frame and gill nets were used to collect spawning walleyes from Meritt Reservoir, Nebraska (1991 and, and spawning and nonspawning walleyes from Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota (1991). Spawning paddlefish were collected by net from the Missouri River at Chamberlain, South Dakota (1989), at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers near Fort Buford, North Dakota (1989 and1990), and by snagfishing in the Yellowstone River at Intake, Montana (1989Montana ( , 1990Montana ( , and 1991, as described by Holloway et al (1991). Five to 11 juvenile paddlefish spawned at Garrison National Fish Hatchery (<1 year old) were maintained for 154 d in a 378-L aquarium with distilled, deionized water in a flow-through system with a low inflow rate.…”

Metazoan Parasites of Young-of-the-Year Paddlefish from Lewis and Clark Lake, Nebraska, U.S.A

“…and occurs in large rivers of the Mississippi River drainage (Bemis et al, 1997). Although adult paddlefish have been the subject of considerable parasite survey (Linton, 1898;Cooper, 1918;Pearse, 1924;Simer, 1929Simer, , 1930Meyer, 1940;Bangham and Venard, 1942;Wilson, 1956;Causey, 1957;Meyer, 1960: unpublished thesis, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa; Hugghins, 1972;Schmidt et al, 1974;Lockard and Parsons, 1975;Suppes and Meyer, 1975;Raikova et al, 1979;Robinson and Jahn, 1980;Miyazaki et al, 1988;Holloway et al, 1991), there is no published survey of parasites of young-of-the-year paddlefish. This study reports the parasites of young-of-the-year paddlefish from Lewis and Clark Lake, Nebraska, U.S.A., and briefly characterizes their helminth community.…”