Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Possible Use of Lumpfish to Control Caligus elongatus Infestation on Farmed Atlantic Salmon: A Mini Review

  • Review
  • Published:
Journal of Ocean University of China Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this mini review, we systematized current knowledge about the number of Caligus elongatus on farmed Atlantic salmon in relation to the use of lumpfish as cleaner fish. The review was prompted by reports of an unusually large number of sea lice (C. elongatus) infestation of farmed salmon in northern Norway, Faroese Islands and Iceland and the urgent need to determine if common lumpfish can be used to reduce the number on farmed Atlantic salmon by actively grazing on sea lice. Available data from Norway clearly indicate that lumpfish grazes on C. elongatus, and it is possible to enhance this grazing with the assistances of live-feed conditioning prior to sea pen transfer and selective breeding. Observations from Iceland, Faroese Islands and Scotland also indicate that lumpfish can effectively lower infestations of C. elongatus on salmon. Overall, this mini review expresses that lumpfish can actively lower the number of C. elongatus on farmed Atlantic salmon.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abolofia, J., Asche, F., and Wilen, J. E., 2017. The cost of lice: Quantifying the impacts of parasitic sea lice on farmed salmon. Marine Resource Economics, 32: 329–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • á Norði, G., Simonsen, K., Danielsen, E., Eliasen, K., Mols-Mortensen, A., Christiansen, D. H., Steingrund, P., Galbraith, M., and Patursson, Ø., 2015. Abundance and distribution of planktonic Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus in a fish farming region in the Faroe Islands. Aquaculture Environment Interactions, 7: 15–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolton-Warberg, M., 2018. An overview of cleaner fish use in Ireland. Journal of Fish Diseases, 41: 935–939.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boxaspen, K., 2006. A review of the biology and genetics of sea lice. ICES Journal of Sea Research, 63: 1304–1316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costello, M. J., 2006. Ecology of sea lice parasitic on farmed and wild fish. Trends in Parasitology, 22: 475–483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costello, M. J., 2009. The global economic cost of sea lice to the salmonid farming industry. Journal of Fish Diseases, 32: 115–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denholm, I., Devine, G. J., Horsberg, T. E., Sevatdal, S., Fallang, A., Nolan, D. V., and Powell, R., 2002. Analysis and management of resistance to chemotherapeutants in salmon lice Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Krayer) (Copepoda: Caligidae). Pest Management Science, 58: 528–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dojiri, M., and Ho, J. S., 2013. Systematics of the Caligidae, Copepods Parasitic on Marine Fishes. Crustaceana Monographs Vol. 18. Brill Publishers, Netherlands, 448pp.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Eliasen, K., Danielsen, E., Johannesen, Á., Joensen, L. L., and Patursson, E. J., 2018. The cleaning efficacy of lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus L.) in Faroese salmon (Salmo salar L.) farming pens in relation to lumpfish size and season. Aquaculture, 488: 61–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hemmingsen, W., Sagerup, K., Remen, M., Bloch-Hansen, K., and Imsland, A. K. D., 2020. Caligus elongatus and other sea lice of the genus Caligus as parasites of farmed salmonids: A review. Aquaculture, 522: 735160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heuch, P. A., Oines, O., Knutsen, J. A., and Schram, T. A., 2007. Infection of wild fishes by the parasitic copepod Caligus elongatus on the south east coast of Norway. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 77: 149–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Igboeli, O. O., Fast, M. D., Heumann, J., and Burka, J. F., 2012. Role of P-glycoprotein in emamectin benzoate (SLICE (R)) resistance in sea lice, Lepeophtheirus salmonis. Aquaculture, 344: 40–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Igboeli, O. O., Burka, J. F., and Fast, M. D., 2014. Lepeophtheirus salmonis: A persisting challenge for salmon aquaculture. Animal Frontiers, 4: 22–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imsland, A. K., Reynolds, P., Eliassen, G., Hangstad, T. A., Foss, A., Vikingstad, E., and Elvegård, T. A., 2014a. The use of lump-fish (Cyclopterus lumpus L.) to control sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis Kreyer) infestations in intensively farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). Aquaculture, 424–425: 18–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imsland, A. K., Reynolds, P., Eliassen, G., Hangstad, T. A., Foss, A., Vikingstad, E., and Elvegård, T. A., 2014b. Notes on the behaviour of lumfish with and without Atlantic salmon present. Journal of Ethology, 32: 117–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imsland, A. K., Reynolds, P., Eliassen, G., Hangstad, T. A., Nytra, A. V., Foss, A., Vikingstad, E., and Elvegård, T. A., 2014c. Assessment of growth and sea lice infection levels in Atlantic salmon stocked in small-scale cages with lumpfish. Aquaculture, 433: 137–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imsland, A. K., Reynolds, P., Eliassen, G., Hangstad, T. A., Nytre, A. V., Foss, A., Vikingstad, E., and Elvegård, T. A., 2015a. Feeding preferences of lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus L.) maintained in open net-pens with Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). Aquaculture, 436: 47–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imsland, A. K., Reynolds, P., Eliassen, G., Hangstad, T. A., Nytre, A. V., Foss, A., Vikingstad, E., and Elvegård, T. A., 2015b. Assessment of suitable substrates for lumpfish in sea pens. Aquaculture International, 23: 639–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imsland, A. K., Reynolds, P., Eliassen, G., Mortensen, A., Hansen, Ø. J., Puvanendran, V., Hangstad, T. A., Jónsdóttir, Ó. D. B., Emaus, P. A., Elvegård, T. A., Lemmens, S. C. A., Rydland, R., NytrØ, A. V., and Jonassen, T. M., 2016. Is cleaning behaviour in lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) parentally controlled? Aquaculture, 459: 156–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imsland, A. K., Hanssen, A., Reynolds, P., Nytra, A. V., Jonassen, T. M., Hangstad, T. A., Elvegård, T. A., Urskog, T. C., and Mikalsen, B., 2018. It works! Lumpfish can significantly lower sea lice infections in large scale salmon farming. Biology Open, 7 (8): bio036301, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/bio.036301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imsland, A. K. D., Frogg, N. E., Stefansson, S. O., and Reynolds, P., 2019. Improving sea lice grazing of lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus L.) by feeding live feeds prior to transfer to Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) net-pens. Aquaculture, 511: 734224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, S. C., Treasurer, J. W., Bravo, S., Nagasawa, K., and Kabata, Z., 2004. A review of the impact of parasitic copepods on marine aquaculture. Zoological Studies, 43: 229–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabata, Z., 1979. Parasitic Copepoda of British Fishes. The Ray Society, London, 468pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGhee, K. E., and Bell, A. M., 2014. Paternal care in a fish: Epigenetics and fitness enhancing effects on offspring anxiety. Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 281: 1146–1151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitamura, H., Thorstad, E. B., Uglem, I., Bjorn, P. A., Okland, F., Naesje, T. F., Dempster, T., and Arai, N., 2012. Movements of lumpsucker females in a northern Norwegian fjord during the spawning season. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 93: 475–481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Overton, K., Dempster, T., Oppedal, F., Kristiansen, T. S., and Gismervik, K., 2018. Salmon lice treatments and salmon mortality in Norwegian aquaculture: A review. Reviews in Aquaculture, 11: 1398–1417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piasecki, W., 1996. The developmental stages of Caligus elongatus von Nordmann, 1832 (Copepoda: Caligidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 74: 1459–1478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pike, A. W., and Wadsworth, S. L., 1999. Sealice on salmonids: Their biology and control. Advances in Parasitology, 44: 233–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell, A., Treasurer, J. W., Pooley, C. L., Keay, A. J., Lloyd, R., Imsland, A. K., and Garcia de Leaniz, C., 2018. Cleaner fish for sea-lice control in salmon farming: Challenges and opportunities using lumpfish. Reviews in Aquaculture, 10: 683–702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Royle, N. J., Smiseth, P. T., Kolliker, M., Champagne, F. A., and Curley, J. M., 2012. The Evolution of Parental Care. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 304–324.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Steinarson, A., and Árnason, T., 2018. Rearing of cleaner fish in Iceland. In: Cleaner Fish Biology and Aquaculture Applications. Treasurer, J. W., ed., 5M Publishing Ltd., Sheffield, 420–435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torrissen, O., Jones, S., Asche, F., Guttormsen, A., Skilbrei, O. T., Nilsen, F., Horsberg, T. E., and Jackson, D., 2013. Salmon lice-Impact on wild salmonids and salmon aquaculture. Journal of Fish Diseases, 36: 171–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treasurer, J. W., 2002. A review of potential pathogens of sea lice and the application of cleaner fish in biological control. Pest Management Science, 58: 546–558.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treasurer, J., Prickett, R., Zietz, M., Hempleman, C., and Garcia de Leaniz, C., 2018. Cleaner fish rearing and deployment in the UK. In: Cleaner Fish Biology and Aquaculture Applications. Treasurer, J. W., ed., 5M Publishing Ltd., Sheffield, 376–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Øines, Ø., Simonsen, J., Knutsen, J., and Heuch, P., 2006. Host preference of adult Caligus elongatus Nordmann in the laboratory and its implications for Atlantic cod aquaculture. Journal of Fish Diseases, 29: 167–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Financial support was given by the Norwegian Seafood Research Found (Nos. KEKS901539 and 901652EFFEK TIV).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Akvaplan-niva Iceland Office, Akralind 4, 201, Kópavogur, Iceland

    Albert K. Imsland

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, High Technology Center, 5020, Bergen, Norway

    Albert K. Imsland

  3. Trondheim Office, Akvaplan-niva, Havnegata 9, 7010, Trondheim, Norway

    Mette Remen

  4. Framsenteret, Akvaplan-niva, 9296, Tromsø, Norway

    Karin Bloch-Hansen & Kjetil Sagerup

  5. Nordlaks Oppdrett AS, Post Box 224, 8455, Stokmarknes, Norway

    Remi Mathisen

  6. Cermaq Finnmark AS, Markedsgata 3, 9510, Alta, Norway

    Elisabeth A. Myklebust

  7. GIFAS AS, Gildeskål, 8140, Inndyr, Norway

    Patrick Reynolds

Authors
  1. Albert K. Imsland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mette Remen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Karin Bloch-Hansen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kjetil Sagerup
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Remi Mathisen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Elisabeth A. Myklebust
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Patrick Reynolds
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Albert K. Imsland.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Imsland, A.K., Remen, M., Bloch-Hansen, K. et al. Possible Use of Lumpfish to Control Caligus elongatus Infestation on Farmed Atlantic Salmon: A Mini Review. J. Ocean Univ. China 19, 1133–1139 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-020-4466-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-020-4466-5

Key words

Search

Navigation