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Protists

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A Colour Atlas of Salmonid Diseases

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Abstract

The Protists are a large group of eukaryotic microorganisms with a taxonomy that is under constant revision. Molecular studies show the group includes diverse and sometimes distantly related phyla that share relatively simple levels of organization that can be unicellular or multicellular, but without specialized tissues. In fish, Protists range from true parasites that may cause significant mortality, to those that show commensalism. Conditions such as overcrowding or poor water quality, as well as other changes in environmental conditions may allow parasites to rapidly increase in number and as a result fish become vulnerable to infection with an increased chance of invasion by secondary pathogens. This chapter presents a selection of the most common Protists reported from salmonid species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Scotland Science, Aberdeen, UK

    David W. Bruno & Patricia A. Noguera

  2. Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Oslo, Norway

    Trygve T. Poppe

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  1. David W. Bruno
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  2. Patricia A. Noguera
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  3. Trygve T. Poppe
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Bruno, D.W., Noguera, P.A., Poppe, T.T. (2013). Protists. In: A Colour Atlas of Salmonid Diseases. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2010-7_8

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