Scott Young, a seasoned fisherman in New Brunswick, has encountered brown bullhead catfish with distinctive dark spots throughout his 40-year career on lakes and rivers in the region.
Recently, Young partnered with Zoe Clarke, a researcher from the University of Cambridge, to investigate these spotted fish further. Clarke suspects that the lesions on the catfish could be a type of contagious cancer, a discovery that originated hundreds of kilometers away.
DNA sequencing results expected in the coming weeks may confirm Clarke’s theory that the spotted catfish Young has observed for years carry the same transmissible cancer found in a lake along the Quebec-Vermont border.
Clarke, part of the University of Cambridge’s Transmissible Cancer Group, is determined to unravel the mystery behind this puzzling biological phenomenon and its unexpected presence in New Brunswick waters.
Researchers have traced the transmissible cancer in catfish back to Lake Memphremagog, straddling the Canada-U.S. border, where it was first identified. This contagious melanoma in catfish is a rare occurrence in the animal kingdom, with only a few known cases documented in different species.
Dr. Julie Dragon, a key figure in the study, revealed that genome sequencing unveiled a unique aspect of this transmissible cancer – the tumors were clones of a single parasitic cell line originated from a past event and spreading among the catfish population.
The team of scientists from the University of Vermont and researchers in England are now on a mission to determine the cancer’s origin and spread. Reports of similar lesions on catfish in New Brunswick have prompted an expansion of the study, with Clarke leading the charge in collecting and analyzing samples from the region.
If the DNA results from New Brunswick match the existing data, it could provide crucial insights into the cancer’s history and progression. Clarke plans to intensify her research by exploring more locations along the Saint John River in the upcoming year.
While the situation may raise concerns, Dragon assures that there is no evidence of the cancer spreading to humans. However, caution is advised by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service against consuming fish with visible lesions or growths.
Keyphrase: Transmissible Catfish Cancer
