Zebrafish parasite?

[Notox Safety & Environmental Research B.V.]

Dear James

My name is Rinus Bogers, and I am study director Ecotoxicology at a
contractlaboratory in the Netherlands, NOTOX B.V.

In spite of the limited discription of the worms found by Mr. Mixon's
collegue in a breeding tank, I think she is right to suggest these are
endo-parasites, probably roundworms (Eustrongylides sp. or Capillaria sp.).
To examine this you can simply observe the adult fish. These red worms of
about 1 cm long are found in various organs, including the gonads. When a
fish is infected, the vague red shapes of the worms inside the fish can be
seen from the outside. As these parasites can severely damage fish organs
and affect the general condition of the fish, you better remove any
infected fish. If you want you can treat them with Phenoxethol. You then
have to feed them with dry-food saturated with Phenoxethol. The worms are
parasites of the adult fish and will not eat fertilised eggs outside the
fish.

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I'm posting this for H. Duane Mixon of the Florida Institute of 
Technology, Melbourne, FL.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 1996 20:03:45 -0400
From: hduane <hduane at metrolink.net>
To: bottesch at fit.edu
Subject: Zebrafish parasite?

Today Jen came to me with a couple of worms that she found in the breeding
tank.
They were about 1 cm long, blood red, segmented, lots of hooks on the
anterior end.  She thought they came out during the period of releasing the
gametes. Therefore she thought they might be endo-parasites.  I don't think
so, but We just wanted to make sure that these worms would not eat the
zygotes.  Have you seen anything on this or heard about it?  
I have seen you post on the z newsgroup and was wondering if you could ask
this question.  I have never done that and don't know how. If you need more
info, I took some notes while Jen was showing me, she also saved a few, but
they are losing pigment.
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 E-mail: notox at knoware.nl (Notox Safety & Environmental Research B.V.)
 Notox Safety & Environmental Research B.V.
 P.O. Box 3476, 5203 DL 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
 Tel: +31-736419575, Fax: +31-736418543
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