Abstract
The effects of water temperature on the development of the enteric myxosporeans, Enteromyxum fugu and Enteromyxum leei , were investigated in experimentally infected tiger puffer, Takifugu rubripes . After naïve tiger puffer were fed gut tissue infected with both E. fugu and E. leei , they were divided into separate tanks and kept at different constant temperature regimes between 10 and 25 °C. Regardless of the water temperature tested, E. fugu was consistently detected with a high prevalence of infection (60–100%), although no sporulation occurred at 10 and 15 °C. Development of E. leei and the onset of disease were suppressed by low water temperatures ( E. leei , followed by an increase of disease rate in the fish. The present study demonstrates that water temperatures below 15 °C have an inhibitory effect on the development of E. fugu and E. leei , resulting in suppression of enteromyxosis at low temperatures.