Note on Abnormal Pigmentation of a Whiting infected by Trematode larvæ

Abstract

In one of the tanks at the Plymouth Laboratory containing pipe-fish and sticklebacks, a whiting was found recently which exhibited black specks scattered over its pigmented areas and on the conjunctiva. The spots were fairly evenly distributed and averaged .5 to .1 mm. in diameter. Around each black point there was a clear unpigmented area.

The histopathology of larval anisakid nematode infections in the liver of whiting, Merlangius merlangus (L.), with some observations on blood leucocytes of the fish

“…However, in this study calcification was not observed but extensive melanin deposits were found around the larvae which is not a feature of the inflammatory response of higher vertebrates. The presence of melanin in parasitic or traumatic injury in fish has been observed by many workers (Gamble & Drew 1911;Hsaio 1941;McQueen, MacKenzie, Roberts & Young 1973;Roberts 1975) but its function remains unknown.…”

First record of a specimen of Lepidion guentheri (Giglioli, 1880) (Gadiformes: Moridae) with melanistic coloration

“…In gadiform fishes, cases of melanosis caused by a trematode infection have been reported in Gadus callarias (Hsiao, 1941) and Merlangius merlangus (Gamble and Drew, 1911), but as far as we know, this is the first description of a case of melanosis in a member of the family Moridae.…”

Some Larval Trematodes from Millport

“…Enough was seen however to show that it was a Distomid. Gamble and Drew (1912) noticed the same appearance in a Whiting (Gadus merlangus) but in this the parasite was identified by them as probably a species of Holostomum. It is evident that many Trematodes cause the segregation of pigment granules in the neighbourhood of the cysts.…”