Experimental infection of Aphanomyces invadans and susceptibility in seven species of tropical fish

Epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS) causes by aquatic oomycete fungus, Aphanomyces invadans is a dangerous fish disease of a wide range of fresh and brackish water, wild and farmed fish throughout the world. The objective of the present study was to determine the susceptibility of a number of tropical fish species to the EUS and compare the severity of infection between experimental groups. Snakehead, Channa striata (Bloch, 1793); snakeskin gourami, Trichopodus pectoralis (Regan, 1910); koi carp, Cyprinus carpio (Linnaeus, 1758); broadhead catfish, Clarias macrocephalus (Günther, 1864); goldfish, Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758); climbing perch, Anabas testudineus (Bloch, 1792); and Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) were challenged by intramuscular injection using zoospores of Aphanomyces invadans (NJM9701). The infected fish skins and muscles were examined for EUS histopathological characteristics, and the results on the severity of lesions and mortality were analyzed using SPSS program. All zoospore-injected fish were shown to be susceptible to the EUS infection except Nile tilapia. Although, the general histopathological pattern was similar in the zoospore-injected group, but there were some variation in granulomatous reaction, that is the presence or absence of giant cells, and time of mortality were detected. The result of statistical analysis showed that there was a significant difference between species, (c (2)=145.11 and p