Researchers at Texas State University have identified an increasingly severe invasive parasite problem in the San Marcos and Comal Rivers that could impact native fish—including endangered species unique to Texas springs.
One parasite has been under study since 1996, but in 2013, a student in the lab of David Huffman, a parasitologist in the Department of Biology at Texas State, discovered a new parasite,Haplorchis pumilio, was infecting fountain darters as well.
"This newly arrived parasite infects the fins and jaw joints," said Huffman, who is one of more than 40 scientists throughout the Texas State University System working through the Texas Invasive Invasive Species Institute in Huntsville to study and develop strategies to deal with invasive species across the state. "The larvae of H. pumilio penetrate the skin and migrate through intervening tissues to get to the fins and the jaw, leaving behind a trail of trauma and inflammation. This worm is now proving to be a much more serious threat to fountain darters than the other parasite which receives most of the research attention."
