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• 1. [Article] The Impact of Parasitic Copepod Salmincola Californiensis on Swimming Ability & Oxidative Burst Activity in Response to Stress in Juvenile Chinook Salmon

  Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have a finite amount of energy that they can use to move from their riverine habitat to their oceanic habitat. Fish in the Willamette River Basin are ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: The Impact of Parasitic Copepod Salmincola Californiensis on Swimming Ability & Oxidative Burst Activity in Response to Stress in Juvenile Chinook Salmon Author: Herron-Seeley, Crystal L. Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have a finite amount of energy that they can use to move from their riverine habitat to their oceanic habitat. Fish in the Willamette River Basin are prevented from moving to the ocean easily by dams which create reservoirs, where they reside for up to months. In this time period many juveniles become heavily infected with parasitic copepods (Salmincola californiensis) which are thought to be harmful. The physiologic impact copepods have on these juveniles was investigated by observing swimming endurance of copepod infected laboratory and naturally reared fish. Infected laboratory fish did not perform as well as uninfected laboratory fish. Naturally reared infected fish were unable to swim in the endurance challenge. Juvenile Chinook Salmon were subjected to a stress test in order to elicit a physiologic stress response. The creation of reactive oxygen species in splenic leukocytes were measured over the course of 23 hours to evaluate the effect of stress on oxidative burst activity. Three hours after the stressor had been applied, oxidative burst activity had increased. There was no indication that increases in oxidative burst activity due to stress would recover within 20 hours after the stress test. Findings in this thesis suggest that overall fitness of copepod infected and stressed fish is reduced. I speculate energy allotted towards accounting for the heavy burdens of copepods appears to be so great that there is little energy left for juvenile Chinook Salmon to successfully move to the ocean. Reallocating energy from maintenance and growth to copepod-induced allostatic burdens in individuals may hinder the Willamette River Basin Chinook Salmon population from shedding its Endangered status. . Title: The Impact of Parasitic Copepod Salmincola Californiensis on Swimming Ability & Oxidative Burst Activity in Response to Stress in Juvenile Chinook Salmon Author: Herron-Seeley, Crystal L. Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have a finite amount of energy that they can use to move from their riverine habitat to their oceanic habitat. Fish in the Willamette River Basin are prevented from moving to the ocean easily by dams which create reservoirs, where they reside for up to months. In this time period many juveniles become heavily infected with parasitic copepods (Salmincola californiensis) which are thought to be harmful. The physiologic impact copepods have on these juveniles was investigated by observing swimming endurance of copepod infected laboratory and naturally reared fish. Infected laboratory fish did not perform as well as uninfected laboratory fish. Naturally reared infected fish were unable to swim in the endurance challenge. Juvenile Chinook Salmon were subjected to a stress test in order to elicit a physiologic stress response. The creation of reactive oxygen species in splenic leukocytes were measured over the course of 23 hours to evaluate the effect of stress on oxidative burst activity. Three hours after the stressor had been applied, oxidative burst activity had increased. There was no indication that increases in oxidative burst activity due to stress would recover within 20 hours after the stress test. Findings in this thesis suggest that overall fitness of copepod infected and stressed fish is reduced. I speculate energy allotted towards accounting for the heavy burdens of copepods appears to be so great that there is little energy left for juvenile Chinook Salmon to successfully move to the ocean. Reallocating energy from maintenance and growth to copepod-induced allostatic burdens in individuals may hinder the Willamette River Basin Chinook Salmon population from shedding its Endangered status. . Close