The leech Batracobdelloides tricarinata (Blanchard, 1897) (Hirudinea : Glossiphoniidae) as a possible reservoir of the rainbow trout pathogenic Streptococcus species

Abstract

A Streptococcus species biochemically and serologically identical to the rainbow trout pathogenic Streptococcus species was isolated from the internal organs of the fish specific leech, Batracobdelloides tricarinata. These leeches were obtained from Roodeplaat Dam, near Pretoria, in which rainbow trout do not occur. This is the first isolation of this bacterium from an environmental source not related to rainbow trout and it is proposed that this leech is a possible reservoir of the rainbow trout pathogenic Streptococcus sp. in South Africa.