BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
Disease threat to European fish
NATURE |Vol 435 |23 June 2005
Rodolphe E.Gozlan*,Sophie St-Hilaire ¢Ó, Stephen W.Feist ¢Ô,Paul Martin ¢Ô, Michael L.Kent ¡×
*Centre for Ecology &Hydrology, Winfrith Technology Centre, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 8ZD, UK
e-mail:reg@ceh.ac.uk
¢ÓDepartment of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho 83209, USA
¢Ô CEFAS Weymouth Laboratory,Weymouth, Dorset DT4 8UB, UK
¡×Center for Fish Disease Research,Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331-3804, USA
The deliberate introduction of new species can have unexpected negative consequences 1,2 and we show here how a recently introduced fish, the invasive Asian cyprinid Pseudorasbora parva ,is causing increased mortality and totally inhibiting spawning in an already
endangered native fish,the European cyprinid Leucaspius elineatus.This threat is caused by an infectious pathogen,a rosette-like intracel-
lular eukaryotic parasite that is a deadly,non-specific agent.It is probably carried by healthy Asian fish,and could decrease fish biodiversity in Europe,as well as having implications for
commercial aquaculture. |
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