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Cornell University studying impact of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus on muskellunge in St. Lawrence River

Posted 5/7/14

Paul Bowser of Cornell University holds a muskellunge impacted by the VHS virus. Cornell University is studying the impact of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) on muskellunge in the St. …

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Cornell University studying impact of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus on muskellunge in St. Lawrence River

Posted

Paul Bowser of Cornell University holds a muskellunge impacted by the VHS virus.

Cornell University is studying the impact of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) on muskellunge in the St. Lawrence River.

In the upper St. Lawrence River region, muskies have not recovered from the VHSV epidemic that hit the Great Lakes between 2005 and 2008 and migrated upstream, according to the New York Sea Grant, which is funding the research.

The disease has hindered the fishes' population growth.

“Sampling in the summer of 2013 showed the virus was still present in the St. Lawrence River. This summer we will test muskellunge as well as other species to see what effect the long winter may have had on possible disease outbreaks this spring,” Rodman Getchell of the Cornell University Aquatic Animal Health Program said.

An invasive species may indirectly be sustaining the VHSV threat.

“Round goby, a known VHSV carrier, has increased in abundance in nearshore areas and may have effects on regional fish communities, including a significant decline in the Tessalated darter, a small fish that is an important food source for young-of the-year muskellunge,” John Farrell of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry said.

Young-of-the-year are fish less than a year old.

VHSV is still in the Great Lakes and capable of killing fish and that monitoring is important for tracking the virus levels and locations, a news release from New York Sea Grant says.