Meeting Abstract

2.5  Friday, Jan. 4  The effects of the parasites, Cardicola laruei and Henneguya cynoscioni, on the swimming performance of spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus GEORGE, A.B.*; DE BURON , I.; MCELROY, E.; College of Charleston abgeorge@g.cofc.edu

Parasites are often associated with detrimental impacts on host physiology, but very few studies have examined the impact of parasites on the swimming performance of fish. In this study, we aimed to determine the impacts of two parasite species, Cardicola laruei and Henneguya cynoscioni, on the swimming performance of spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus. For 18 fish, we quantified burst swimming speed (U_Burst) and critical swimming speed (U_Crit) as indicators of anaerobic and aerobic swimming abilities, respectively. The effect of H. cynoscioni on swimming performance could not be determined because none of our experimental fish were infected with this parasite. 72% (13/18) of the fish were infected with C. laruei. Linear regression showed a significant (P = 0.02) positive relationship between C. laruei infection density and U_Crit, but no significant relationship (P = 0.17) between density and U_Burst. The unexpected positive correlation between C. laruei granuloma density and U_Crit may be explained by changes in heart muscle cell function as a byproduct of infection.