TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP ROYAL PAVILLION RESORT, ATLANTIC BEACH, NC MARCH 18 - 20, 1997 Comparative Sensitivity of Two Strains of Rainbow Trout and One Steelhead Trout to Natural Infection of the Parasite Myxobolus cerebralis 1John H. Schachte, 1Christopher J. Petrie, and 2Alan Mack 1New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Fish Disease Control Unit, 8314 Fish Hatchery Road, Rome, NY 13440; 2New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Caledonia State Fish Hatchery, 16 North Street, Caledonia, NY 14423 Two strains of rainbow trout and one strain of steelhead trout were exposed to water harboring Myxobolus cerebralis, the causative agent of whirling disease. Fish from replicate cages of each strain were sampled at 90 and 180 d post exposure. One pooled sample established the presence of M. cerebralis spores, individual fish samples from each strain were assayed quantitatively to determine spore numbers. Based upon spore counts per gram of homogenized gill and skull tissues, the domestic strain of rainbow trout and the steelhead trout were found to be more resistant to infection than a wild strain of rainbow trout derived from the Finger Lakes region of New York. Return to 22nd Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page