The prevalence of Centrocestus formosanus metacercariae was investigated in ornamental fish purchased from a pet shop in Chiang Mai, Thailand, including Carassius auratus (goldfish), Cyprinus carpio (Koi), Poecilia latipinna (Sailfin Molly), Danio rerio (Zebrafish), and Puntigrus tetrazona (Tiger barb). The parasite species was identified by the morphology of worms as well as by a molecular approach using ITS2. The results showed that 50 (33.3%) of 150 fish examined were infected with the metacercariae. The highest prevalence was found in C. auratus (83.3%), and the highest intensity was noted in C. carpio (70.8 metacercariae/fish). The most important morphological character was the presence of 32–34 circumoral spines on the oral sucker. The phylogenetic studies using the rRNA ITS2 region revealed that all the specimens of C. formosanus in this study were grouped together with C. formosanus in GenBank database. This is the first report on ornamental fish, C. carpio, P. latipinna, D. rerio, and P. tetrazona, taking the role of second intermediate hosts of C. formosanus in Thailand. Prevention and control of metacercarial infection in ornamental fish is urgently needed.
Carps ; Databases, Nucleic Acid ; Goldfish ; Metacercariae* ; Parasites ; Poecilia ; Prevalence* ; Spine ; Thailand* ; Zebrafish

OBJECTIVETo describe the occurrence of various spinal deformations in a captive-bred wild line of Poecilia wingei (P. wingei).

METHODSFish belonging to a wild line of P. wingei caught from Laguna de Los Patos, Venezuela, were bred in an aquarium home-breeding system during a period of three years (2006-2009). The spinal curvature was observed to study spinal deformities in P. wingei.

RESULTSOut of a total of 600 fish, 22 showed different types of deformities (scoliosis, lordosis, kyphosis), with a higher incidence in females. Growth, swimming and breeding of deformed fish were generally normal.

CONCLUSIONSPossible causes for spinal curvature in fish are discussed on the basis of the current literature. While it is not possible to determine the exact cause(s) of spinal deformities observed in the present study, traumatic injuries, nutritional imbalances, genetic defects or a combination of these factors can be supposed to be involved in the pathogenesis of such lesions.

Animals ; Female ; Incidence ; Kyphosis ; congenital ; epidemiology ; veterinary ; Lordosis ; congenital ; epidemiology ; veterinary ; Male ; Poecilia ; abnormalities ; growth & development ; physiology ; Reproduction ; Scoliosis ; congenital ; epidemiology ; veterinary ; Swimming

The HPLC and TLC retention, n-octanol/water partition coefficients (log Kow), bioconcentration factors, and acute toxicity data of 29 heteroatomic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and 7 parent polycyclic aromatics were determined experimentally. For the same set of compounds, molecular weights, fragmental log Kow values, and molecular connectivities were calculated. Quantitation of the mathematical relationships between the variables was used to validate the predictive potential of various parameters. The importance of log Kow in predictive studies is highlighted. It is concluded that the internal concentration of a pollutant in the organism should be used as a parameter in future QSAR work.
1-Octanol ; Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Chromatography, Thin Layer ; Daphnia ; drug effects ; Ecology ; Environmental Pollution ; prevention & control ; Octanols ; Photobacterium ; drug effects ; Poecilia ; metabolism ; Polycyclic Compounds ; metabolism ; toxicity ; Regression Analysis ; Solubility ; Structure-Activity Relationship ; Water