U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home News & Events News Articles Research News 2002





- ARS News & Events
- AgResearch Magazine
- Image Gallery
- News
- Search News & Events
- Pesticide Drift May Endanger Pollinators
- ARS Seeks a Fire Ant Fix
- Scientific Discoveries 2024
- ARS Featured Photos
- Down on the Farm
- Facebook Live Events
- Food and Nutrition Research Briefs
- News Archive
- Science in Your Shopping Cart
- Scientific Discoveries
- Social Media
- Under the Microscope
- AgResearch magazine
- ARS at Work
- ARS Memorial Lectures
- ARS Science Hall of Fame
- Citrus Disease (Huanglongbing)
- Contact Office of Communications
- Plant Hardiness Zone Map
- Mobile Apps
- Public Affairs Contacts
- Publications and Other Resources
- USDA Blog
- Videos

Archived Page
 This page has been archived and is being provided for reference purposes only. The page is no longer being updated, and therefore, links on the page may be invalid.
 Photo: The ram's horn snail, Planorbella trivolvis, is a carrier of the Bolbophorus trematodes that infect farm-raised catfish. Link to photo informationClick image for caption and other photo information.
Read the magazine story to find out more.
Snail Treatment Reduces Fish Disease in Commercial Production Ponds
By Jim CoreSeptember 4, 2002
A new treatment against a freshwater snail that carries a deadly fish parasite reduces the threat of the parasite to farm-raised channel catfish nationwide.
Infected fish develop small cysts in their flesh, often seen as bumps just below the skin. The disease can kill smaller fish and reduces growth among infected fish that survive. Currently, there is no cure. Andrew J. Mitchell, a fishery biologist at the Agricultural Research Service's Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center in Stuttgart, Ark., found that if he could reduce the vector, he could control the disease.
Mitchell's treatment is a shoreline application of copper sulfate and citric acid to production ponds. The formula is applied in the waters around the pond's edge, where the snails live. The concentrated treatment kills the snails, but dilutes as it disperses throughout the pond so it does not harm fish.
The parasite is Bolbophorus confusus, a flatworm found in the intestinal tract of the American white pelican, a migratory, fish-eating bird found throughout the United States and in the lower Mississippi River Delta during winter months. Flatworm eggs are released into catfish ponds, where they hatch and form larvae that infect an intermediate host, the rams-horn snail, Planorbella trivolus. When the larvae mature in the snail, they are released as larval trematodes called cercaria that infect fish. The cycle begins again when the fish are eaten by pelicans.
Reducing the rams-horn snail population breaks the parasite's life cycle midway through its development. The parasites cannot be transmitted from one fish to another.
More than 90 percent of snails were killed in studies. The shoreline treatment is approved for use by the Environmental Protection Agency, and it is being widely used in the Mississippi Delta area. Copper sulfate is already commonly used to curb the growth of nuisance algae in fish ponds.
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.
More information on the research is in the September 2002 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.


Return to top


Research
                            Media
                            About ARS
                            Work With Us


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov