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568

JOURNAL FISHERIESRESEARCHBOARD OI CANADA, VOL. 30, NO. 4' 1973

LrNNoN, R. E. 1954. Feeding mechanism of the sea Vlnnvrov. V. D.. lNo W' I. For,r-rrr' 1958. Redescription of Lampetra ayresii (Gtnther) of Western
lamprey and its effecton host fishes. U.S. Fish Wildl.
North America, f spec;esof lamprey (Petromyzontidae)
Serv. Fish. Bull. 98, 56: 246-293.
distinct from Lampetrafluviatilis (Linnaeus) of Europe'
Mrr,r,En,D. M., J. A. WErnrnALL, S. Zrnorr, W. H.
J. Fish. Res. Board Can.15l- 47-77.
LnNlnz, G. D. Srr.urrun, J. Furroxr, M. H.r.lsuao,
E. O. Saro, .a.NoT. S. Exclrss. 1968. Estuarine WnrrHI-rn,F. C. 1955. Coho salmonflngerlingattackecologystudies,p. 24-31. In J. R. Matchesand F. B.
ed by young lamprey. Fish. Res. Board Can' Progr'
Taub [ed.] Researchin fisheries1967. Univ. Wash.
Rep., Pac. Coast Sta. No. 104: 15.
Co1l. Fish. Contrib. 280.
R. L. 1959. Life history of the sea lamprey
Wrcr-rv,
PanrnR, P. S., ,lNo R. E. LrNNoN. 1956. Biology of
of Ciyuga Lake, New York' U'S. Fish and Wildl'
the sealampreyin its parasiticphase. U.S. Fish Wildl.
Serv. Fish. Bull. 59: 561-617.
Serv. Res. Rep. 44: 32 p.
PrrrcHnn, F. T. 1963. The life history and distribution WTLLIAMs,I. V., .r.No P. Grr-nousrN. 1968. Lamprey
parasitism on Fraser River sockeye and pink salmon
of Iampreys in the Salmon and certain other rivers in
dwing 1967. Int. Pac. Salmon Fish. Comm' Progr'
British Columbia. Canada.M.S. Thesis.Univ. British
Rep.18: 22 p.
Columbia. Vancouver,B.C. 195 p.

Effects of Temperatureon Mortality of Fingerling-ChannelCatfish

(Ictalurus pLnctulzs) Experimlntally lnfecterl with Channel
Catfish Virus
JonN A. Pt-uNrs
Departmentof Fisheriesand Allied Aquacultures
Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn (Jniversity,Auburn, Ala. 36830, USA
Pr,urran,
J. A. 1973. Effectsof temperatureon mortality of fingerling channelcatf,sh(Ictalurus
punctarus)experimentally infected with channel catfish virus. J. Fish. Res. Board
Can. 30: 568-570.
When water temperature was reduced from 28 to 19 C for channel catfish (Ictalurus
punctatus) fingerlings 24hr after injection with channel catfish virus (ccv), 24T9.rnor^tll,ty
occurred. In compaiison, fish held it a constant temperature of 28 C had a mortality ot 94ls
and those held in 19 C water had l4To mortality. Reducing the temperature to 19 C when the
first deathsoccurred at 28 C (6+12hr after injiction) resulted n'|SYa mortality.-Insigniflcant
mortality occurred in fish injeited with Hanks; balanced salt solution. Results of temperature
change ire discussedas to tieir potential value in reducing the effects of CCV diseaseunder
cultural conditions.
prurue, J. A. 19i3. Effectsof temperatureon mortality of fingerling channelcatflsh(Ictalurus
ptnctatus) experimentally infected with channil catfish virus. J. Fish' Res. Board
Can. 30: 568-570.
Des alevins de barbue (Ictaluruspunctatus)soumis d un abaissementde temp6rature de
28 d 19 C, 24 heures aprdsinjection du virus de 1abarbue (CCV), subissentdes mortalit6s de
24.3%. Par comparaison,les poissonsmaintenusdansune eau de temp6ratureconstanted 28
C ont un taux de mortal iie ae'S+.27o,et d 19 C un taux de 14.1/6. L'abaissementde la temp6ratureau dbutdesmortalit6s(64 d 72 heuresaprdsinjection)entrainedesmortalitdsde78'37a'
Nous discutons des possibilit6i qu'offrent les Changementsde temp6rature visant d minimiser
1eseffets de la maladie d virus de la barbue dans des conditions d'6levage.
Received Jl.tly 1.4,19'72
Printed in Canada (J2610)

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s69
CrlaNltEr catfish virus disease (CCVD) has been
diagnosed in catfish cultural operations throughout
the southern United States during summer months
(Fijan 1968; Plumb 1971), when susceptible fingerling fish are abundant and water temperatures
above 25 C are commonplace in hatchery ponds.
This report deals with effects of temperature on the
percentage of mortality in fingerling channel catfish
(Ictalurus punctatus) experimentally infected with
CCV. The objective of the study was to determine if
Iowering the water temperature from 28 to 19 C at
various times after injection with the virus would
reduce the percentage of mortality in infected fish,
and whether raising it to 28 C from 19 C would increase the mortality. Temperature manipulation to
reduce the mortality rate of salmonids infected with
infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus was reported
by Amend (1970).

T.rsrn 1. Percentage mortalities of channel catfish

fingerlings (10 flsh in each of 6 aquaria) 14 days after
injection with channel catfish virus when temperature
was held at 28 C and reducedto 19 C. and held at 19
C and raised to 28 C, at three intervals.
Temperature
Mean

Range

Constant28 C
Reducedto 19 C
24hr after iniection
at first deathsb
96 hr after injection

94

90-100

)44

78
68

0-50
50-100
40-100

Constant 19 C
Raised to 28 C
24 hr after injection
at first deathsb
96 hr after injection

14

0-30

gB"
770
760

90-100
40-100
40-100

Materials and methods- Nine-month-old channel

aSignificantlylower than for constant
catfish fingerlings from the Fisheries Research Unit,
2S C (P : 0.05).
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn,
"At 64-72 hr after injection in fish held at 28 C.
Alabama, were used in the study. The fish averaged4.g
"Significantly higher than for constant 19 C (P : 0.05).
g and 8.9 cm total length.
The CCV isolate reported by Fijan (1968), later described by Fijan et al. (1970) and characterizedbv Wolf
In a separatestudy, a group of 3.1 g channel catfish
and Darlington (1971), was used for infection. This were each injected with 0.1 ml of HBSS. Aquaria were
strain had been maintained for 4 years by repeatedpas- stocked with 10 injected fish each and duplicate aquaria
sagein brown bullhead (Ictalurus nebulosis)cell cultures were treated with each temperature regime (previously
(ATCC No. 59). Infection was produced by injecting described) except that temperature change was not
each fish intraperitoneallywith 0.1 ml of Hank's balanced effected at 96 hr after injection. Mortality was 5/6 when
salt solution (HBSS) containing 100-560 tissue culture the temperature was reduced to 19 C at 24hr after ininfectious doses(5016endpoint). Virus titer was made in jection, and 0 in each of the other tests.
brown bullhead cultures girown in 1.6 x 125 mm tubes
The percentages of mortality were transformed to
and the endpoint determined by the method of Reed arc-sine percentagesand compared by an analysis of
and Muench (1938).
varianceusingDunnett'stest(P : 0.05) (Steeland Torrie
1960).
The tests were conducted in 40liter aquaria filled with
dechlorinatedmunicipal water, each aquarium with 10
fish. In each of two trials, three aquaria were used for
Results - The mean percentage mortality
of
each temperature regime (Table l). Temperature was
virus
infected fish held aI 28 C was 94Ta (Table 1).
raised to and kept at 28 C with heaters,and kept at or
When the temperature was reduced to 19 C at 24
lowered to 19 C with a room air conditioner.The virus-injected fish were placed initially in aquaria hr after injection, the percentage of mortality was
at 19 C. For the tests in which the temperature was significantly reduced to 24%. Temperature reduction
when first deaths occurred did not significantly
reducedto 19 C from 28 C, the aquaria weie warmed to
28 C immediately after the fish were introduced. The reduce the percentage of mortality below that at
lntervals at which the temperatures were reduced were: the constant 28 C.
24hr after injection; when the first deaths occurred in
The mean percentage of mortality of infected fish
28 C aquaria (64-72hr after injection); and 96 hr after held at 19 C was l4%.
injection.
The percentage of mortalities of the three groups
For the tests in which the temperaturewas raised to
for which the temperature was raised to 28 C (7628 C from 19 C, the temperature changeswere effected 98/) was significantly
higher than that of the 19 C
within 6-8 hr after the heaterswere transferred from the group.
aquaria used in the previous tests. During the transfers,
the heaters were disinfected in 100 ppm chlorine (Fijan
et al. 1970)and thoroughly rinsed.
Discussion - The effects of high temperature on
All tests were terminated after 14 days due to the the development of CCYD were clearly evident in
appearanceof bacterial and fungal diseasesin surviving this study. Reduction of water temperature is a
fish.
feasible approach to reducing the detrimental

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570

JOURNAL FISHERIESRESEARCH BOARD OF CANADA, VOL. 30, NO. 4, 1973

effectsof CCVD under experimentalconditions and

it may prove to be beneficial at catfish fingerling
hatcherieswhere a cool water supply is available
throughout the summer. The only signiflcant reduction in mortality occurred when temperature
was lowered 24 hr after injection, but in most
casesCCV is not suspecteduntil clinical signsappear
and deathsoccur,However,the averagemortalitiesin
the groups where the temperaturewas reduced at
the first deaths (and after) were lG26% less than
thosefor the constant28 C group. This may indicate
some benefit in reducing the temperatureafter the
diseaseis apparent.The resultswere obtainedunder
experimentalconditions where all of the flsh were
injected at the samerate and time, and may differ
from thosein natural infections.In natural infections
only a few individuals may be carriers of the virus
and these transmit the infection by contact or
through the water to healthyfish. If the temperature
is reducedwhen deathsappearin natural epizootics,
and before a large percentageof the uninfectedfish
contract the virus, a much greaterreduction in mortality may be realized.
The relatively high percentage of mortality after
the temperature was raised to 28 C at 64-72 hr and
96 hr after injection would indicate that a subclinical
infection occurred at the lower temperature, or that
injected virus was retained by the fish at the lower
temperature. That the percentage of mortality of
thesetwo groups was2l-22/6 lessthan for the group

raised to 28 C 24 hr after injection may indicate a

trend. This may have some therapeutic value in
holding suspect CCV infected fish at a suboptimal
temperature that would allow them to build resistance to the virus, thus rendering them less susceptible to the disease if higher temperatures were later
encountered.
- Supported in part by SoutheastAcknowledgmetxl.t
ern Fish Disease Project, and Sport Fish Restoration
Funds.
AurNo, D. F. 1970. Control of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus diseaseby elevating the water
temperature. J. Fish. Res. Board Can.27:265-270Frrl.N,N. N. 1968. Progressreport on acutemortality
of channel catfish fingerlings causedby a virus. Bull'
Off. Int. Epizoot. 69: 1167-1168'
Frrarq. N. N.. T. L. Wrlleonu, Jr., ,r.NoJ. P. Nnrrnr-19'70. An acute viral disease of channel catflsh.
tsur. Sport Fish. Wildl' Tech. Pap. 43:- ll p.
PLuMe, J. A. 1971. Channel catfish virus disease in
southern United States. Proc. 25th Annu. Conf.
South. Fish Game Comm': 489493.
Rrno, L. J., aNo H. MunNcs. 1938. A simplemethod
flftv percent endpoints' Amer' J' Hvg'
Si:1'lT1':1t
rNo J. H. Tonnrr. 1960. principtes
Sr;;,;:;.';.,
"^ffi
of statistics. McGraw-Hill, New
;;;;t"ies
iott. N.y. +St p.
1971. Channel
worr, k., aro R. W. DlnrrNcroN.
catfish virus: a new herpesvirus of Ictalurud fish.
J. Virol. 8: 525-533.