Parasites of Hardhead (Mylopharodon Conocephalus) And
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PARASITES OF HARDHEAD (MYLOPHARODON CONOCEPHALUS) AND SACRAMENTO PIKEMINNOW (PTYCHOCHEILUS GRANDIS) FROM THE NORTH FORK FEATHER RIVER, PLUMAS AND BUTTE COUNTIES, CALIFORNIA by Dawn E. Alvarez A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Humboldt State University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Masters of Science In Natural Resources: Fisheries December, 2008 ABSTRACT Parasites of hardhead (Mylopharodon conocephalus) and Sacramento pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus grandis) from the North Fork Feather River in Plumas and Butte Counties, California Dawn E. Alvarez Hardhead (Mylopharodon conocephalus) and Sacramento pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus grandis) are endemic to California and are native to the Sacramento-San Joaquin system, Russian River, and Napa River. Very little study has been done on parasites of these two species. The objective of this study was to describe the parasites of hardhead and Sacramento pikeminnow in the North Fork Feather River in Plumas and Butte Counties, between its confluence with the East Branch of the North Fork Feather and Lake Oroville. Thirty-two hardhead and 14 Sacramento pikeminnow were examined for parasites. All Sacramento pikeminnow were infected, and all but one hardhead were infected. On average, Sacramento pikeminnow were infected with four parasites, and hardhead were infected with three parasites. I found six new host records for hardhead and four new host records for Sacramento pikeminnow. I found Trichodina/Paratrichodina species in Sacramento pikeminnow and two Myxobolus species in hardhead and Sacramento pikeminnow. Dactylogyrus californiensis and one unidentified monogenetic trematode were found on hardhead. I found Neascus of Ornithodiplostomum ptychocheilus in both hardhead and Sacramento pikeminnow. I found Edlintonia ptychocheila and Neoechinorhynchus rutili in hardhead. In addition, I found one parasite which iii has been previously recorded in hardhead and Sacramento pikeminnow, Lernaea cyprinacea. I also found three types of parasites which have been previously recorded in hardhead and Sacramento pikeminnow. “Black spot” Neascus species and unidentified larval nematodes were found in both hardhead and Sacramento pikeminnow, and unidentified proteocephalan plerocercoids were found in Sacramento pikeminnow. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Funding for this study was provided in part by United States Forest Service Hispanic Recruitment Initiative Student Career Experience Program, Plumas National Forest Student Career Experience Program, and Golden West Women Flyfishers. I would like to thank Kelly Child, Michael Condon, Dennis “Mitch” Reasoner, Eric Wonhof, Dennis Matsunaga, Willie Ryan, and Dale Marsh for their help with field work. I wish to extend special thanks to Diane Wong for helping several weekends with field work, Terri Simon-Jackson for serving as a mentor and a guide to the process, and S.D. Alvarez who accompanied me on every trip to the field. Greg Miller is gratefully acknowledged for all his support and for his help formatting the paper. Special thanks to Richard and Mary Alvarez and the rest of my family without whose support this paper would not have been possible. Finally I wish to thank my advisor, Dr. Gary Hendrickson, and my committee, Drs. Peggy Wilzbach and Andrew Kinziger, for all their help with my project and this paper. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT......….............................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................. v LIST OF TABLES.............................................................................................. viii LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................... ix INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................. 1 STUDY AREA................................................................................................... 6 MATERIALS AND METHODS.......................................................................... 10 RESULTS.......................................................................................................... 15 Trichodina/Paratrichodina species.................................................................... 18 Myxobolus species............................................................................................ 20 Dactylogyrus californiensis................................................................................ 27 Unidentified monogenetic trematode................................................................. 30 Unidentified Neascus......................................................................................... 30 Neascus of Ornithodiplostomum ptychocheilus................................................. 33 Edlintonia ptychocheila...................................................................................... 39 Proteocephalan plerocercoids........................................................................... 41 Unidentified larval nematode............................................................................. 41 Neoechinorhynchus rutili................................................................................... 44 Lernaea cyprinacea............................................................................................. 50 vi DISCUSSION.................................................................................................... 56 TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) LITERATURE CITED......................................................................................... 65 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Prevalence, mean intensity, and locations of parasites found in 32 hardhead collected from the North Fork Feather River in Butte and Plumas Counties, California, from November 2005 to November 2007......................................................................... 16 2 Prevalence, mean intensity, and locations of parasites found in 14 Sacramento pikeminnow collected from the North Fork Feather River in Butte and Plumas Counties, California, from November 2005 to November 2007......................................................................... 17 3 Proboscis and hook measurements in micrometers between Neoechinorhynchus from hardhead collected from the North Fork of the Feather River (Butte and Plumas Counties, CA) and N. rutili and N. salmonis (measurements from Arai 1989)............................................. 51 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Map of study area in North Fork Feather River drainage in Plumas and Butte Counties, California...………………….................................... 7 2 Trichodina/Paratrichodina species from wet mount of gills from Sacramento pikeminnow collected from the North Fork Feather River, Plumas County, California, October 2007............................................. 19 3 Myxobolus species 1 spore from wet mount of spleen of hardhead collected from North Fork Feather River, Plumas County, California, September 2007.................................................................................... 21 4 Myxobolus species 1 mature spore in kidney histological section from hardhead collected from North Fork Feather River, Plumas County, California, September 2007. Section was stained with hemotoxylin and counterstained with eosin...................................................................... 22 5 Group of Myxobolus species 1 spores in melanomacrophage center in wet mount of spleen of hardhead collected from North Fork Feather River, Plumas County, California, October 2008............................................. 23 6 Myxobolus species 2 spores in wet mount of gills of Sacramento pikeminnow collected from the North Fork Feather River, Plumas County, California, October 2008....................................................................... 25 7 Plasmodium containing Myxobolus species 2 in wet mount of gills from Sacramento pikeminnow collected from North Fork Feather River, Plumas County, California, October 2008.......................................................... 26 8 Dactylogyrus californiensis from wet mount of gills from Sacramento pikeminnow collected from North Fork Feather River, Plumas County, California, September 2007................................................................... 28 9 Opistohaptor of Dactylogyrus californiensis showing haptoral anchors and marginal hooks. Specimen was from wet mount of gills from hardhead collected from North Fork Feather River, Plumas County, September 2007.................................................................................... 29 10 Unidentified monogenetic trematode from wet mount of skin scraping from hardhead collected from North Fork Feather River, Plumas County, California, October 2007. Arrow points to haptoral anchors................ 31 ix LIST OF FIGURES (CONTINUED) 11 Haptoral anchors of unidentified monogenetic trematode from wet mount of skin scraping from hardhead collected from North Fork Feather River, Plumas County, California, October 2007.................................. 32 12 Black spot Neascus on skin and fins of Sacramento pikeminnow collected from North Fork Feather River, Plumas County, California, September 2007.................................................................................... 34 13 Black spot Neascus metacercaria dissected out of its cyst from skin of hardhead collected from North Fork Feather River, Butte County, California,