From June 16th to June 20th, a trio from Northeast Texas Community College in Mount Pleasant came to the Prescott area to take specimens of fish from lower Ouachita River watershed. The goal is to contribute to a study of parasites that feed on the fish there.
According to a NTCC news release, two students, Gracie Grey and Stefanie Hernandez along with the professor of their biology course, Chris T. McAllister of the school’s Natural Sciences Division, “were fortunate to find potential new species of myxosporeans in a redfin shiner and longear sunfish, for the first time.”
The group also plans to visit Clinton, Arkansas to continue their research in the watershed of Little Red River and then meet up with researchers at the University of Texas in Tyler for work at the Sabine River.
McAllister, when asked by email yesterday what the study seeks to find out, said “we expect to find several new species of parasites in fishes of this watershed as it harbors important intermediate hosts in the life cycles of various aquatic species.”
The group’s work in Prescott is part of a larger inquiry about parasites that McAllister said has already yielded some conclusions. “We have worked for several years in the upper Ouachita River watershed in Polk and Montgomery counties, and the watershed as a whole supports several species of parasites, so we have seen no real difference in the sites from Prescott area versus those in the other counties. In short, this watershed is not really unlike some in the Arkansas Ozarks where we have studied fish parasites. The key is working in spring-fed, clear streams which support a diversity of fish life.”
McAllister said the students’ work is part of the requirement for the course they are taking and while part of the purpose is to enlarge the students’ knowledge and add skills, the work is also toward journal publication. “Several papers are in progress or have already been published with former students last year on the author byline in parasite journals, including Journal of Parasitology, Acta Parasitologica, Systematic Parasitology, and some regional state journals, including the Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science.”
Asked what would follow if the group found evidence of higher-than-expected rates of parasite infestation among the fish of a given watershed, McAllister said, “We don't expect the lower part of the watershed to differ significantly in parasite incidence or prevalence. Many of these parasites cause little to no pathology to their hosts, although we do include information on any pathology observed in fish gills infected with myxoporeans. We find that fish species that occur in both parts of the watershed harbor essentially the same diversity of parasites.”
Northeast Texas Community College is a public community college that began classes in 1985. According to its publicity, NTCC houses a program in sustainable agriculture. In 2023, it had an enrollment of about 3,100 students.
