Cultivation of bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma carassii, a common parasite of freshwater fish

Trypanosoma carassii (syn. T. danilewskyi) is a widespread parasite of carp and other cyprinid as well as some noncyprinid freshwater fish. It lives extracellularly in the blood and tissues of its hosts, causing chronic infections. In this paper the isolation of T. carassii from fish blood and the propagation and cloning of bloodstream forms in vitro are described. By several criteria, cultured and fish-derived trypomastigotes are indistinguishable. The culture system should be useful for the biochemical characterization of this trypanosome and its interaction with the fish immune system.