Polycystic kidney disease in goldfish (Casrassius auratus) (abstract)

Authors: Gill JM
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 42, Issue 2, pp 77, Apr 1994
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Fish, Wildlife
Subject Terms: Congenital disease, Inherited disease/conditions, Kidney/renal disease, Disease/defect, Urinary system/urology
Article class: Abstract

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Abstract: Thirty percent of 60 goldfish in an outside pond showed progressive development of swollen abdomens and floatation problems. The occasional fish was found dead.
Necropsy of an affected fish showed an abdomen almost filled with a large bilobed ventral mass comprised of masses of cysts filled with clear fluid. On histopathological examination, this mass appeared to be composed of large cystic spaces lined by a single flattened epithelium. Occasional remnants of normal kidney tissue were seen within the mass.
Polycystic kidney disease has been reported occasionally in goldfish. In this case the condition was probably inherited, as 15 years before eight goldfish had been placed in the pond and the present population was derived from the original eight fish.
Polycystic kidney disease in goldfish, in spite of the severe lesions produced, is not as lethal as polycystic kidney disease in other species, as other organs can compensate for the loss of renal function.

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