ISSN:
1365-2761
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract. Skin diseases of sharks and algal diseases of animals are reviewed. A specific progressive skin disease of wild, laboratory-maintained and display-aquaria populations of spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias L., observed during a 2.5-year period at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, is described. Skin lesions, from 1mm to over 1cm in diameter, developed in the following sequence: petechial and ecchymotic haemorrhages; dome-shaped vesicles; larger lesions with central ulceration; and hyperpigmented granulations in the final repair stage. A coccolithophorid algal agent could be demonstrated in skin lesions and is described. Since both sharks and coccolithophorid algae are primitive organisms, the possible evolutionary implications of algal symbionts modified to become pathogens are discussed.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2761.1985.tb00955.x
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