Susquehanna River bass show spike in melanosis
SUNBURY — Recent sampling of adult smallmouth bass on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River has shown an high prevalence of melanosis, according to a Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission biologist. |
| Is this a result of pollution? |
“We noticed it in a few of our sampling locations,” Geoffrey Smith said. “We were out almost every night over the last two months and once we started to see (fish with melanosis), we saw it in almost every survey.”
Smith could not provide information on the cause of the melanosis, the abnormal or excessive production of melanin in the skin or other tissue.
Pathologists from the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who examined the fish tissues agreed that the smallmouth had melanosis, Smith said.
“As far as a cause, I am not certain there has been any movement on that front.”
The concern is whether the melanosis represents melanoma, which would be skin cancer in wild fish.
“If it does,” said William Yingling, a retired physician and avid fisherman from Freeburg, “we need to know why they have cancer. We really need to know why so many wild fish in the Susquehanna have begun showing up with these black spots in large numbers since March 2010, almost four years ago.”
Yingling said he has fished the Susquehanna watershed since he was a teenager and never saw the condition in smallmouth bass until 2010.
