I need to apply special sample preparatory methods for recovering parasites from frozen fish specimens obtained through industrial deep-sea fishery.
It is expected that between actual catch of fish samples in the ocean, industrial trawlers and research vessels unavoidably freeze fish before landing them at jetties for sale or transfer of custody thereby subjecting fish hosts to many cycles of freeze/thawing before main microscopy in the laboratory.
Can anyone assist with special parasite recovery methods from skin, fin, gill, eye, fillet, Gastrointestinal tract and nasal microhabitats?
It rather depends what you are looking for in terms parasitic fauna. Freezing and thawing samples is likely to degrade many soft bodied parasites and host tissues in a way that will it difficult to distinguish between them. Another factor to consider is how long after death the fish were frozen as a lengthy gap will increase chances of parasites being, particularly free living ectoparasites. It really depends what you are looking for, any conclusion on total parasite fauna of your host species will be very misleading I think, however if you are looking for a specific parasite/ parasites then it my be possible to identify hard body parts such as attachment hooks e.t.c. similarly if you know what species of parasite you are looking for you may be able to use the specific DNA primer to screen for that species. Good luck with your work.
Freeze works to destroy the sample so it is preferable to use solutions for conservation
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