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22/04/04/1644222 story

Freshwater Mussels Can Inhibit Bacterial Diseases

posted by janrinok on Tuesday April 05 2022, @01:13AM   

upstart writes:

Freshwater mussels can inhibit bacterial diseases:

Flavobacteria are a severe problem for fish farming and cause substantial economic losses. The "warm water disease" caused by Flavobacterium columnare is especially problematic since a functional vaccine against the bacterium is not available. The skin and gill damage in diseased individuals can cause high mortality in young salmonids.

Glochidium larvae of the freshwater pearl mussel attach to salmon or trout gills, where they develop and grow for 9 to 11 months until they detach and sink to the river bottom, starting their life as mussels. Glochidium larva is a parasite in the gills of fish. Therefore, it was assumed that glochidia-infested fish would be more prone to bacterial infection.

[...] "Filtering freshwater mussels could be potentially utilized in water treatment applications," says Head of Konnevesi Research Station and LIFE Revives project, professor Jouni Taskinen. "As species disappear, we may lose ecosystem services the species provide -- probably before we have even found them."

Journal References:
Chowdhury, M. Motiur R., Roy, Amitav, Auvinen, Kalle, et al. Glochidial infection by the endangered Margaritifera margaritifera (Mollusca) increased survival of salmonid host (Pisces) during experimental Flavobacterium disease outbreak [open], Parasitology Research (DOI: 10.1007/s00436-021-07285-7)
Hajisafarali, Mahsa, Aaltonen, Sari, Pulkkinen, Katja, et al. Does the freshwater mussel Anodonta anatina remove the fish pathogen Flavobacterium columnare from water? [open], Hydrobiologia (DOI: 10.1007/s10750-021-04769-6)

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Original Submission

• The article is confusing. The article is confusing. (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 05 2022, @10:37AM (2 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 05 2022, @10:37AM (#1234944)

  Are the parasites good or bad?
  Bad for fish but good for filtering applications?

  "Flavobacteria are a severe problem for fish farming and cause substantial economic losses"
  But we need them for filtering?

  Maybe fish farming is bad for the environment as it is an orgy breeding ground for parasites of all types and heavily infects the natural world around it?

  • Re:The article is confusing. (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 05 2022, @04:26PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 05 2022, @04:26PM (#1234995)

    From the article:

    Larvae of the freshwater pearl mussel can give protection against bacterial infection

    Glochidium larvae of the freshwater pearl mussel attach to salmon or trout gills, where they develop and grow for 9 to 11 months until they detach and sink to the river bottom, starting their life as mussels. Glochidium larva is a parasite in the gills of fish. Therefore, it was assumed that glochidia-infested fish would be more prone to bacterial infection.

    Against expectations, brown trout infested with pearl mussel larvae better survived an outbreak of Flavobacterium columnare. Moreover, the protective effect of glochidia infestation against bacterial disease sustained several months after the larvae had dropped off from the gills of fish. The higher the number of pearl mussel larvae in the gills was, the better the trout survived

    Parent

  • Re:The article is confusing. (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday April 05 2022, @05:27PM

    by DannyB (5839) on Tuesday April 05 2022, @05:27PM (#1235012) Journal

    Next, you'll be complaining about selling bats as food at wet markets in China.

    --
    How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...

    Parent

• learning sumething new everyday (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 05 2022, @02:47PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 05 2022, @02:47PM (#1234983)

  heh, i just learned that fish are uber drivers for baby mussels!
  also, it seems there used to be mussels in the fresh water springs coming from the alps? and fresh water crabs? oops.