Isolation and Identification of Ichthyophonus hoferi from Fishes

Ichthyophonus hoferi is a fish pathogen found commonly in both freshwater and marine fishes. I. hoferi causes a granulomatous systemic infection, called ichthyophoniasis. There has been a lot of recorded evidence of this infection resulting into heavy mass mortalities of more than 80 freshwater and marine species, leading to huge economic losses. This parasite has been reported to produce infections in different species of marine, freshwater, and estuarine teleosts, adapting a wide range of environmental factors.