Myxobolus cerebralis infection in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) exposed under natural stream conditions.

From early April into mid-June 1977, sequential groups of juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) were each exposed for 10 days to the parasite Myxobolus cerebralis by immersion in a stream inhabited by infected wild trout. Following incubation in a M. cerebralis-free facility, trout were subsequently killed, and heads and gill arches were examined by routine histologic methods. A grading scale to quantify lesion severity was developed and applied. Percentage infected, lesion severity scores, effects of water temperature and flow rates on percentage infected and lesion severity scores, and resulting pathology were determined for each species at each exposure period. The percentage of rainbow trout infected with M. cerebralis was significantly higher than the percentage of brown trout infected for each exposure period. The percentages of rainbow trout infected in exposure periods later in the calendar year were significantly higher than those in earlier periods. The percentages of brown trout infected were not significantly different among exposure periods. Overall average lesion severity scores were significantly higher in rainbow than in brown trout. Lesion severity scores in rainbow trout increased over time (a positive correlation with exposure period). Lesion severity scores were not significantly different for brown trout among exposure periods. A significant correlation existed between water temperature and percentage of rainbow trout infected; a significant correlation also existed between water temperature and lesion severity scores in rainbow trout. Similar correlations did not exist for percentage of brown trout infected or accompanying lesion severity scores. In rainbow trout, ventral calvarium was the most common site of M. cerebralis replication, followed by gill arches. In brown trout, lesions were virtually confined to gill arches. Early lesions consisted of foci of cartilage necrosis with small numbers of M. cerebralis developmental stages. More advanced lesions consisted of multifocal areas of cartilage necrosis with numerous M. cerebralis developmental stages and/or mature myxospores bordered and/or infiltrated by mono- and multinuclear leukocytes. Lesions in brown trout were smaller and had fewer associated leukocytes and M. cerebralis developmental stages and/or mature myxospores. Higher infection rates, lesion severity scores, and differences in lesion location in rainbow versus brown trout explain in part why numbers of rainbow but not brown trout have fallen in western rivers inhabited with M. cerebralis-infected trout.