Date of Award

1998

Degree Name

Biological Sciences

College

College of Science

Type of Degree

M.S.

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Leonard J. Deutsch

Second Advisor

Donald C. Tarter

Third Advisor

Thomas K. Pauley

Fourth Advisor

Thomas Weaks

Fifth Advisor

James E. Joy

Abstract

Two-hundred and fifteen basses were collected from four river sites (Racine Locks and Dam, Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam; Ashland, KY—Ohio River; London Locks and Dam—Kanawha River) and five reservoir sites (Beech Fork Lake, East Lynn Lake, Summersville Lake, Burnsville Lake, and Stonewall Jackson Lake,). The five species of bass caught were: largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides; smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieui; spotted bass, Micropterus punctulatus; white bass, Morone chrysops; and hybrid bass, Morone chyrsops x Morone saxatilis. Basses were collected by three methods: 1) local anglers (hook and line), 2) gill netting surveys; and 3) rotenone surveys. Collections were made from May 26, 1997 through November 5, 1997. Within these 215 basses, 21 different species of parasites were collected from the gills and viscera. Dominant species were ’’small form" monogenetic trematodes (i e. Clavunculus sp., Haplocleidus sp., and Urocleidus sp. combined) from both river and lake hosts; Bucephalus polymorphus, a digenetic trematode from river systems, Proteocephalus ambloplitis (pleurocercoids), the bass tapeworm from lake systems; and Neoechmorhynchus sp., an acanthocephalan also from lake systems. Comparisons were made between infections of hosts in river versus lake systems to determine if there were any correlations between parasite species and types of aquatic ecosystems. Pleurocercoids (i e. larval stages) of the bass tapeworm Proteocephalus ambloplitis were the most destructive parasitic forms, causing extensive fibrosis of the liver and viscera of certain basses, particularly young-of-the-year largemouth bass, and adult smallmouth and spotted basses.

Subject(s)

Basses (Fish) – Parasites.

Fishes-Parasites - West Virginia.

Trematoda.

Lake ecology.

Stream ecology.

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