CAN FW ICH INFECT MARINE FISH?

EASTERN INDIGO · Feb 1, 2021

Heading says it all. Anybody know for sure?

Sigmund · Feb 1, 2021

No it cannot.

Casket_Case · Feb 1, 2021

I don’t believe so. I don’t believe Ich is an Euryhaline organism. It’d be really hard for it to because even bacterium as small as it is typically is never Euryhaline...

Courtney Aldrich · Feb 1, 2021

No. Freshwater ich and marine ich are caused by two completely different organisms.
Cryptocaryon irritans (causes marine ich and cannot live in freshwater) and Ichthyophthirius multifiliis (causes freshwater ich and cannot survive in saltwater). The marine ich is only so-named because it also results in white spots, but the protozoa is unrelated. I have attached a great review I found on Cryptocaryon irritans.

Jay Hemdal · Feb 1, 2021

EASTERN INDIGO said:
Heading says it all. Anybody know for sure?

FW ich looks like Cryptocaryon, but it actually isn’t closely related. A primary treatment for FW ich is salt, so no, it won’t survive in marine or even brackish water. There are some oddball protozoans that I’ve run across from time time, and some nasty ones come from brackish habitats and can infect a wider variety of fish in different salinities.
Jay

EASTERN INDIGO · Feb 2, 2021

Courtney Aldrich said:
No. Freshwater ich and marine ich are caused by two completely different organisms.
Cryptocaryon irritans (causes marine ich and cannot live in freshwater) and Ichthyophthirius multifiliis (causes freshwater ich and cannot survive in saltwater). The marine ich is only so-named because it also results in white spots, but the protozoa is unrelated. I have attached a great review I found on Cryptocaryon irritans.

Thanks to everybody who answered.
As for the puffer, there's no way I'm cutting his teeth. If anybody lives around Ft. Lauderdale and wants to save him, he is free for the asking. Thanks.