Increased Susceptibility of Juvenile Chinook Salmon from a Contaminated Estuary toVibrio anguillarum

Abstract
Previous studies have shown that juvenile chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha from a contaminated estuary of Puget Sound, Washington, are immunosuppressed. Immunosuppressed fish may be more susceptible to disease and ultimately experience an increase in mortality. To evaluate this possibility, differences in susceptibility to a marine pathogen in outmigrating juvenile chinook salmon from an urban estuary and a nonurban estuary in Puget Sound were assessed. Juvenile chinook salmon were sampled from hatcheries before their release and subsequently from their respective estuaries as the population outmigrated from freshwater to the saltwater environment during the springs of 1993 and 1994. The study was repeated during a 3-month period to assess the duration of the effect after the fish were removed from the source of contaminants and was replicated during a 2-year period to examine interannual variation. Bile, liver, and stomach contents were collected from fish after capture to determine expos...

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