Editing Murray cod (section)

====Introduced pathogens====
Murray cod have soft skin and very fine scales that leave them particularly vulnerable to infection from exotic diseases and parasites. The following exotic diseases and parasites all seriously affect wild Murray cod; all have been introduced by imports of exotic fish.<ref name="Kaminskas 2020">{{cite journal|first1=S.|last1=Kaminskas|year=2020|title=Alien pathogens and parasites impacting native freshwater fish of southern Australia: a scientific and historical review|journal=Australian Zoologist|volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=696–730 |doi=10.7882/AZ.2020.039|s2cid=230643061 |doi-access=free}}</ref> ''Chilodonella'' is a single-celled, parasitic [[protozoa]] that infects the skin of Murray cod and has caused a number of serious kills of wild Murray cod.<ref name="Rowland and Ingram, 1991"/><ref name="Kaminskas 2020"/> ''[[Saprolegnia]]'' is a fungus-like oomycete or "water mould" that frequently infects Murray cod eggs and the skin of Murray cod that have been roughly handled through poor [[catch and release|catch and release technique]].<ref name="Rowland and Ingram, 1991"/><ref name="Kaminskas 2020"/> (It is essential that Murray cod intended for release only touch cool wet surfaces and are '''not''' put down on any hard, dry, rough or hot surfaces, e.g. boat gunwales, boat floors, dry grass, dry rocks, gravel banks, dry towels or mats, etc. Hands should also be wetted before touching them. They must not be hung vertically by the mouth or gill covers.) Wild Murray cod populations across their range suffer extremely severe infestations of ''Lernaea'' or "anchor worm", a parasitic [[copepod]] vectored by introduced [[carp]] and that burrows into the skin of Murray cod.<ref name="Rowland and Ingram, 1991">{{cite book|author1=Rowland SJ|author2=Ingram BA|title = Diseases of Australian native freshwater fishes with particular emphasis on the ectoparasitic and fungal diseases of Murray cod (Maccullochella peeli), golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) and silver perch (Bidyanus bidyanus)|publisher =NSW Fisheries, Sydney.|year =1991}}</ref><ref name="Kaminskas 2020"/><ref name="NSW Rivers Survey">{{cite book|author1=Harris JH|author2=Gehrke PC|title = Fish and Rivers in Stress — The NSW Rivers Survey|publisher =NSW Fisheries Conservation Office, Cronulla, Sydney|year =1997}}</ref> ''Lernaea'' puncture wounds are often secondarily infected by bacteria.<ref name="Khalifa and Post, 1976">{{cite journal|last1=Khalifa|first1=KA|last2=Post|first2=G|year=1976|title= Histopathological effect of Lernaea cyprinacea (a copepod parasite) on fish|journal= The Progressive Fish-Culturist|volume=38|issue=2|pages=110–113|doi=10.1577/1548-8659(1976)38[110:heolca]2.0.co;2}}</ref><ref name="Berry et al., 1991">{{cite journal|last1=Berry|first1=CR|last2=Babey|first2=GJ|last3=Shrader|first3=T|year=1991|title= Effect of Lernaea cyprinacea (Crustacea: Copepoda) on stocked rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)|journal=Journal of Wildlife Diseases|volume=27|issue=2|pages=206–213|doi=10.7589/0090-3558-27.2.206|pmid=2067042|s2cid=28800550|doi-access=free}}</ref> Severe ''Lernaea'' infestations probably causes the death of many more adult Murray cod than commonly recognised.<ref name="Goodwin, 1999">{{cite journal|last1=Goodwin|first1=AE|year=1999|title= Massive Lernaea cyprinacea infestations damaging the gills of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus polycultured with bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis|journal= Journal of Aquatic Animal Health|volume=11|issue=4|pages=406–408|doi=10.1577/1548-8667(1999)011<0406:mlcidt>2.0.co;2}}</ref><ref name="Kaminskas 2020"/> Ebner<ref name=Ebner2006/> reports a young adult Murray cod seemingly killed by severe ''Lernaea'' infestation.