Disease Impacts: Tagging Study
Mycobacteriosis infected striped bass
Dan Gonzales
Assembling the striped bass holding pen
Dr. John Hoenig
Untangling the holding pen's net
Dan Gonzales
Releasing the tagged striped bass into the holding pen
What to do if you find a tagged Striped Bass
Mycobacteriosis of Chesapeake Bay striped bass is predominantly a visceral disease, infecting organs such as the spleen and kidneys of the fish. Internal signs of the disease typically include small grayish white nodules called granulomas in these organs. A small percentage of the infected fish also exhibit unsightly shallow, rough-surfaced, reddened, or darkly pigmented skin ulcers. Loss of scales is common in these ulcers. Infected fish sometimes exhibit significant weight loss. These disease symptoms are mainly observed in the summer and fall. Fish exhibiting the unsightly skin ulcers are of greatest concern to anglers.*