title: Mortalities induced by the copepod Sinergasilus polycolpus in farmed silver and bighead carp in a reservoir.
abstract: The frequency distributions of the parasitic copepod Sinergasilus polycolpus were examined in silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and bighead carp Aristichthys nobilis during a disease outbreak of the 2 species of fish in a reservoir in China. The mean abundance of the copepod was positively related with host length and age, and the overdispersion of the copepod in both silver and bighead carp was fitted well with negative binomial distribution. Although parasite-induced host mortality was observed, a peaked age-parasite abundance curve was not detected in the present parasite-host system. It is also proposed that this peaked age-abundance curve is unlikely to be observed in its natural host populations.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Fish Diseases, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei Province, PR China. gtwang@ihb.ac.cn
authors.forename: Gui T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wen X
authors.initials: WX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wei J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nie
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D017756:Aquaculture; D002347:Carps / Q000469:parasitology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003445:Crustacea / Q000502:physiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D004478:Ectoparasitic Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000662:veterinary*; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000469:parasitology; D005880:Gills / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions