Care and Diseases of Trout
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CARE AND DISEASES OF TROUT By H. S. DAVIS Revised edition, 1946 RESEARCH REPORT 12 Fish and Wildlife Service, Albert M. Day, Director United States Department of the Interior, J. A. Krug, Secretary UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1947 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, United States Government Printing Office, ABSTRACT HIS IS the third and most extensive revision of Care and Diseases of Trout. Care of trout at the hatchery, including the care of ponds and raceways, is treated at some length. This is followed by a general discussion of trout foods and methods of feeding, special attention being paid to the use of dry products for supplementing fresh meat in the diet. Some consideration is given to the improvement of brood stock and its practical value. A general discussion of parasites and diseases of trout, and their control, is followed by a detailed account of each disease, including the character- istic symptoms, etiology, pathology, and methods of control. The figures include drawings and photomicrographs of the more important organisms that cause trout diseases and their effects on the tissues. CARE AND DISEASES OF TROUT1 By H. S. DAVIS. PH.D., In charge, Aquicultural Investigations, Fish and Wildlife Service CONTENTS Page Page Introduction ................................................................... 1 Internal animal parasites—Continued Care of fingerling trout ............................................ 2 Schizamoeba salmonis ................................... 53 Care of ponds and raceways ..................................... 10 Myxosporidia ................................................... 54 Trout foods ..................................................................... 11 Coccidia in trout ............................................ 55 Feeding methods ............................................................ 18 Bacterial diseases ..................................................... 55 Improvement of stock ................................................ 19 Furunculosis .......................................................... 55 Parasites and diseases ................................................ 22 Ulcer disease ....................................................... 61 General considerations ......................................... 22 Peduncle disease ................................................ 63 General principles of disease control .............. 23 Fin rot ................................................................... 66 Sterilization of ponds and raceways ................ 27 Gill disease ............................................................ 68 External animal parasites ..................................... 28 Western type of gill disease .......................... 73 Trematoda .............................................................. 28 Cytophaga columnaris ..................................... 74 Gyrodactylus ................................................... 28 Miscellaneous diseases, including those of un- Discocotyle salmonis ..................................... 30 certain origin ................................................... 77 Parasitic copepods .............................................. 31 Fungus diseases ................................................... 77 Mussel glochidia ................................................... 33 Popeye ..................................................................... 82 Protozoa ................................................................... 35 Thyroid tumor or goiter ................................... 84 Costia ................................................................... 35 Intestinal inflammation ................................... 85 Chilodon .............................................................. 37 Fatty degeneration of the liver ..................... 85 Trichodina ....................................................... 39 Acute catarrhal enteritis ................................... 87 Ichthyophthirius .............................................. 41 Anemia ................................................................... 88 Internal animal parasites ..................................... 45 White-spot disease ............................................ 89 Parasitic worms ................................................... 45 Blue-sac disease ................................................... 89 Protozoa ................................................................. 49 Soft-egg disease ................................................... 91 Octomitus salmonis ....................................... 49 Literature cited ............................................................ 92 INTRODUCTION During recent years there has been a constantly increasing demand for larger trout for stocking purposes. At one time, most of the trout were planted as ad- vanced fry or, at least, before they reached a length of 3 to 4 inches. Except in commercial hatcheries few fingerling trout were fed for more than 2 or 3 months. At present, most fingerlings are held for much longer periods and large numbers of trout from 6 to 12 inches or more in length are planted each year. This change in stocking policy is due to the fact that in thickly populated sections, where the streams are fished intensively, even moderately good fish- ing can be maintained only by liberal plantings of large trout. Our streams can produce only a small part of the food required to support a trout population large enough to satisfy the demand in heavily fished waters. Either large trout must be supplied by hatcheries or fishing must be greatly curtailed. It is a comparatively simple matter to produce advanced fry in large num- bers with little loss, but if trout are to be held through the summer the trout culturist will be confronted with difficulties of various kinds, which must be met and overcome if the fish are to be kept healthy and growing rapidly during the summer. There is every reason to believe that heavy losses are unnecessary and, to a considerable extent, can be prevented. There are well-authenticated in- stances of small lots of trout that have been carried through the first year with Approved f or publication June 1945. 1 2 RESEARCH REPORT 12, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE a total loss of less than 10 percent from the time the eggs were taken. No doubt this represents an exceptional condition that cannot be duplicated on a large scale, but, the fish culturist should try to approach this record. There is always some loss among the eggs, especially before they are "eyed," which in many cases reaches 20 to 30 percent or more. From the time the eggs are eyed, however, until the young fish begin to feed, there is usually very little loss. The final absorption of the yolk sac, which compels the advanced fry to seek its food from other sources, marks a critical period in the life of the young trout, which is sometimes attended with heavy losses. From this time until late summer or fall the mortality is often heavy and it is during this period that there is the greatest opportunity to cut down losses through the adoption of better methods of caring for the fingerlings. Usually, little difficulty is ex- perienced in carrying the trout through the ensuing winter if they are carefully graded according to size, so as to allow no opportunity for cannibalism. CARE OF FINGERLING TROUT Before discussing the conditions under which fingerling trout can be reared to best advantage, it is advisable to consider the natural habitat of young trout during the first few months of their lives. As is well known, trout normally spawn in the riffles of comparatively small, swiftly flowing streams. The young remain near the spawning grounds or work their way into even smaller streams during the first summer. In some instances, especially in northern localities, trout may spawn in ponds or lakes; but in such cases they usually seek gravel beds that are infiltrated with ground water from springs or seepage. Small brooks in which trout normally spawn usually contain but few large pools; consequently, there is a perceptible current almost everywhere. Even in the larger streams the small fingerlings are almost invariably found in shallow riffles or small side channels where there is a decided current and the water is well aerated. This fact is emphasized as it is believed that the more nearly natural conditions can be approximated in rearing fingerling trout, the better will be the chances of success. This means that the fish should be held where there is an abundant supply of well-aerated water and a perceptible current. Frequently, fingerling trout are held during their first summer in the troughs in which they were hatched. At many hatcheries, especially in the West, large troughs or tanks are provided to which fingerlings are transferred when the hatching troughs become too crowded. Unquestionably, these are superior to the standard hatchery troughs for rearing fingerlings and very good results are often obtained. Nevertheless, it is believed that there are several serious ob- jections to rearing trout in either troughs or tanks, and that much better re- sults would be obtained if the fish were moved outdoors early in the season. Standard hatchery troughs provide an ideal means of hatching eggs and hold- ing the fry, but after the fish begin feeding, other factors must be taken into consideration. In the first place, the rapidly growing fish constantly require additional space if they are to be kept in vigorous condition.