Myxobolus cerebralis
Myxobolus cerebralis is a myxosporean parasite of salmonids. It causes whirling disease in farmed salmon and trout and also in wild fish populations. Whirling disease afflicts juvenile fish and causes skeletal deformation and neurological damage. The parasite is not transmissible to humans.
About Myxobolus cerebralis in brief
Myxobolus cerebralis is a myxosporean parasite of salmonids. It causes whirling disease in farmed salmon and trout and also in wild fish populations. Whirling disease afflicts juvenile fish and causes skeletal deformation and neurological damage. The parasite is not transmissible to humans. M. cerebralis has many diverse stages ranging from single cells to relatively large spores, not all of which have been studied in detail. The stages that infect fish, called triactinomyxon spores, are made of a single style that is about 150 micrometers long and three processes or ‘tails’ each about 200 micrometer long. Two of these cells form polar capsules, which form a binucleate sporoplasm, and are infective to oligochaetes, which are among the remains of digested fish cartilage. Though the only myxorean ever found in salmon cartilage, other visually similar species may be present in the skin, nervous system, or muscle. Myxosporeans are often difficult to distinguish from other genera because of morphological similarities across genera. They are considered animals by most scientists, though their status has not officially changed. The taxonomy and naming of both M. cerebralis, and of myxozoans in general, have complicated histories. It was originally thought to infect fish brains and nervous systems, though it soon was found to primarily infect cartilage and skeletal tissue.
Recent molecular studies suggest they are related to Bilateria or Cnidaria, with Cnodaria being closer morphologically because both groups have extrusive filaments. In the 1980s, M. cerebralis was discovered to require a tubificid oligoch aete to complete its life cycle. It has a two-host-host life cycle involving a salmon-host cycle involving two life cycles involving two salmon species. It is not known if the parasite has a life-cycle involving a fish-host cycle involving two fish species, or a salmon host and two fish hosts, or two salmon nervous systems. It can be found in Europe, the U.S., South Africa, Canada, Canada and other countries and has appeared in most of Europe, the United States, South Africa and South Africa as well as wild fish in the wild. The mortality rate is high for fingerlings, up to 90% of infected populations, and those that do survive are deformed by the parasites residing in their cartilage and bone. They act as a reservoir for the parasite, which is released into water following the fish’s death. The parasites are not transmissible to humans, though some studies have found them to be related to cnidarians, a group of organisms that are more closely related tobilateria and Bilaterian. The myxospores develop from sporoplasms inside fish hosts, are lenticular.
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This page is based on the article Myxobolus cerebralis published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 20, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
