TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP JOHN CARVER INN, PLYMOUTH, MA 30 MARCH - 2 APRIL, 1998 Potpourri Of Lesions In Blue (Prionace glauca), Shortfin Mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), And Common Thresher (Alopias vulpinus) Sharks In The Western North Atlantic. Joanna D. Borucinska1, J. N. Caira2, and G. W. Benz3 1Department of Biology, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT;2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT; 3Tennessee Aquarium and Southeast Aquatic Research Institute, Chattanooga, TN Despite the fascination surrounding sharks and their use in research and commerce, little is known about their diseases. This study addresses lesions found in nine blue sharks, Prionace glauca, one shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus, and one common thresher shark, Alopias vulpinus, caught by sportsfishermen in waters of Long Island (NY) in 1996. Tissue samples were taken from sharks during necropsy and preserved in 10% buffered formalin. Samples were embedded in paraffin, serially sectioned, stained with hematoxylin and eosin, and mounted on glass slides. Brightfield microscopy was used to examine preparations. The most spectacular and most common external lesions were associated with attachment sites of female copepods. These included epidermal ulcerations associated with Pandarus satyrus around pectoral fins, and Echthrogaleus coleoptratus on claspers of nine blue sharks; hyperplasia of secondary lamellae of gills by attachment of Nemesis robusta in a common thresher shark, and nodular hyperplasia of interbranchial septa of two blue sharks at loci of anchorage of female Phyllothyreus cornutus. Dermal abrasions, probably of traumatic origin, were also present on all sharks examined. Internal lesions included multifocal hepatic subcapsular necrosis caused by attachment of the larval cestode Molicola sp. in nine blue sharks, multifocal epicardial plaques composed of mesothelial hypertrophy and hyperplasia and submesothelial myxomatous deposits in one blue and one mako shark, disseminated parasitic granulomas centered around unidentified nematode larvae within internal organs of one mako shark, and mucosal ulceration in the spiral intestine of nine blue sharks associated with cestode attachment. Most severe of the latter lesions were caused by the largest cestode, Prosobothrium armigerum. Lastly, a granulomatous mass centered around mineralized remnants of what appeared to be the cestode Tentacularia sp. was partially occluding the entrance to the spiral intestine in a blue shark. Areas with numerous mitotic figures, cellular atypia and marked fibroplasia were present, which raised a possibility of a neoplastic character of this lesion. The pathology found in this small group of sharks suggests that there are many more diseases to be described.   Return to 23rd Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page