Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Vorticella.

Hello.

This summer I saw Vorticella on 2 Crayfish, is this normal.

Can they parasit fish.
A+

I have never seen or read that Vorticella will infect fish. I think the fish slime layer prevents the attachment of Vorticella stem. In the link below it has some detailed fish parasite information. Vorticella are not mentioned in the Peritrichs section. Peritrichs are a group composed of two main forms those with contractile and non-contractile stems. Voricella belong to the contractile forms. Are you sure growth was Vorticella and not the non-contactile species of Charchesium, Epistylis or Opercularia?
https://www.int-res.com/articles/feature/d070p001.pdf

Hello.

Thanks for the site.

To know if they are Charchesium or Epistilis I do not know.

You are probably right about the fish.

Last summer I found them in large quantities on the Snails.

I found this site with beautiful photos

https://www.kolvoortonderwaterfoto....rotozoa/vorticella_on_zebra_mussels/2158
A+

More info about stalked protozoans affecting fish. There are several species of Epistylis that infect the skin, fins, and gills of fish (Esch et al., 1976). The urn shaped organism, which is adorned by a ring of cilia on the distal end, is at the terminus of a dichotomous stalk that, in turn, attaches by a disk to hard surfaces of the host such as spines, scales, or gill covers. Groups of Epistylis form a colony, grouping or cluster. These parasites cause irritation and inflammation of the epithelium of the host at the point of attachment which may provide a site for secondary infections of Aeromonas hydrophila. The parasites feed primarily on bacteria and organic material in the water, but they erode scales and hard spines of fins where they attach. Other than the injury incurred by attachment, they are seldom harmful to the host unless there are large masses of these parasites.
Several other unicellular parasitic ciliates including Trichodina, Tricodinella, Epistylis, Ichthyobodo, Apiosoma, Vorticella and Ambiphrya are common among wild and cultured tilapia, especially when the fishes are farmed at high stocking densities

Hello.

If I understand correctly, the group of Epistylis attach themselves to their host for the search for food.

In fact they use their host as a Taxi.

Thank you Mr.Cody.
A+