The Pathologic Copepod Phrixocephalus cincinnatus (Copepoda: Pennellidae) in the Eye of Arrowtooth Flounder, Atherestes stomias, and Rex Sole, Glyptocephalus zachirus, from British Columbia

Authors

Reginald B. Blaylock, Gulf Coast Research LaboratoryFollow
Robin M. Overstreet, Gulf Coast Research LaboratoryFollow
Alexandra B. Morton, Raincoast Research

Date of this Version

2005

Comments

Published in the Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists (2005) 25(3): 116-123. Copyright 2005, the European Association of Fish Pathologists. http://eafp.org/bulletin-archive/2005-volume-25/issue-3/ Used by permission.

Abstract

We report Phrixocephalus cincinnatus, a pennellid copepod infecting the eyes of flatfishes, from a single specimen of rex sole, Glyptocephalus zachirus, for the first time. In the typical host, the arrowtooth flounder, Atherestes stomias, the parasite occurred commonly in sampled populations from the Broughton Archipelago in British Columbia, infected primarily the right eye of the flounder, and on only one occasion presented more than two parasites per eye. The copepod attached to the choroid layer and ramified throughout the posterior compartment of the eye, resulting in the disruption of the retina and probably impairing host vision. Inflammation and hyperplasia progressed to necrosis and proliferation of connective tissue, resulting in the total destruction of the eye.