A 14-year Survey of the Parasites of Yellow Perch from Canadarago and Otsego Lakes, New York

Abstract

Over the past 14 years the SUNY Oneonta fish parasitology lab has conducted a survey of the parasites found in yellow perch (Perca flavescens) in Otsego and Canadarago lakes, with emphasis on winter sampling via ice fishing. Survey work has also been conducted during the summer months. For every fish examined, all components of the digestive system were examined for parasites, and in many samples, full necropsies, i.e., examinations of most of the body organs, were performed. Parasites that were collected were preserved and subsequently prepared as whole mount slides using conventional parasitological techniques, and then examined with a compound light microscope. Parasites were subsequently identified to genus or species based upon the reference literature. Following identifications of parasites, comparisons were made between the two lakes, which respectively represent oligotrophic and eutrophic water bodies. This project has been reported on in previous years by other students. The major contribution of our study is to increase the taxonomic level of precision of identifications from genus to species, in many instances. In this poster we report on and present images of multiple species of parasitic worms, including species of acanthocephalans (thorny headed worms), nematodes, trematodes (flukes), cestodes (tapeworms) and monogeneans, as well as some parasitic protozoans and leeches.