Antibodies against Discocotyle sagittata (Monogenea) in farmed trout

Abstract

The relationship between Discocotyle sagittata intensities and host length, weight and specific anti-parasite antibody titres was studied in 3 year-classes of farmed rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and brown trout Salmo trutta at the end of the annual transmission cycle. Antibody titres were significantly higher in infected farmed fish than in naïve controls, indicating that infection elicits immunoglobulin production. No correlation was found between host size and parasite burdens, nor between infection intensities and antibody titres.