Newswise — University of Idaho fisheries researcher Christine Moffitt wants to understand how prevalent whirling disease is in the state's streams and the threat it poses to trout populations.
Her most recent project focuses on the Pahsimeroi River in eastern Idaho. Tanks in the Moscow fisheries laboratory hold small rainbow trout that were placed in cages in the Pahsimeroi to monitor the whirling disease threat.
The hatchery-bred rainbow trout serve as sentinels to help Moffitt and her students assess the whirling disease threat in different sections of the Pahsimeroi. If the river carried high levels of spores produced by the whirling disease parasite, the consequences could be severe.
The parasite, Myxobolus cerebralis, targets the cartilage in the trout's head and spine and deforms it. Affected trout can no longer swim straight, whirling in circles that make them both vulnerable to predators and unable to feed. Many Montana streams suffered extensive trout declines because of whirling disease.
Moffitt, a UI professor of fisheries resources, and assistant leader of the USGS cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, has served as president of the American Fisheries Society. Her work analyzes the threat posed by whirling disease in the Pahsimeroi.
In the past, determining the severity of infection required long hours of laboratory work to prepare microscope slides from fish for visual examination.
The powerful genetic techniques and expertise available through the new Center for Research on Invasive Species and Small Populations promise more efficient testing procedures.
Better tests will help guide fisheries managers as they assess their plans for streams, Moffitt said.
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