The scientists focused on a particularly dangerous disease affecting juvenile Atlantic salmon — gyrodactylosis, caused by the parasite Gyrodactylus salaris. The monitoring covered the Tuloma and Kola rivers in the Barents Sea basin, along with their tributaries, as well as the Kanda and Kovda rivers in the White Sea basin.
Researchers paid special attention to the natural foci of parasitic diseases in common whitefish — the material was collected in Lake Pulozero and the Nizhnetulomsk Reservoir. During the work, it was possible to record quantitative indicators of the infection of juvenile salmon with the parasite G. salaris in the Tuloma River and its tributaries. Furthermore, the persistent year‑after‑year hyper‑infestation of common whitefish with metacercariae of trematodes of the genera Ichthyocotylurus sp. and Diplostomum sp. in the studied water bodies has been confirmed.
Regular monitoring of natural foci of parasitic diseases in valuable fish species helps to take into account the influence of various environmental factors and serves as the basis for developing effective measures to prevent and combat gyrodactylosis, which is devastating to juvenile Atlantic salmon.
VNIRO Press Service
