Controlling Mortality Caused by External Columnaris in Largemouth Bass and Bluegill with Chloramine-T or Hydrogen Peroxide

Abstract

Columnaris (causative agent, Flavobacterium columnare) is a widespread fish disease of concern among fish culturists in the USA. If left untreated, an entire population of fish may become infected, and morbidity and mortality may reach high levels. In virtually all instances, columnaris outbreaks require intervention to prevent significant losses. A number of sanitizing agents, most notably chloramine-T (CLT) and hydrogen peroxide (HP), have been used to control mortality associated with a variety of bacterial pathogens causing external infections. However, the majority of trials conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of these chemicals, thereby gaining U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for their use in treating fish infected with columnaris, have been conducted on salmonids. Accordingly, we conducted seven experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of CLT or HP to control mortality associated with external columnaris in Florida Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides floridanus and Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus. Treatment with CLT or HP significantly reduced cumulative mortality in five of the seven experiments. Cumulative mortality was strongly correlated to pretreatment mortality in treated and control tanks in the five Largemouth Bass experiments, suggesting that intervention at later stages of columnaris progression may result in less favorable outcomes. Odds ratios calculated for individual experiments indicated varying degrees of success in controlling mortality; however, meta-analysis of all experiments indicated treatment with either CLT or HP significantly increased probability of survival, regardless of fish species or test article. These results demonstrate that both chemicals can be effective in controlling mortality associated with external columnaris in Largemouth Bass and Bluegills and that timely treatment of fish will likely result in lower overall mortality.

Received December 7, 2012; accepted March 4, 2013

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Josh Sakmar and Kathy Childress, Florida Bass Conservation Center's Richloam Fish Hatchery, for data collection support and fish health support.