A Picture Worth a Thousand Words: What Lesion Scoring Tells Us About Fish Health, Research, and Better Decisions

At first glance, the graph presents lesion severity scores across three tissues—gill, mouth, and skin—for three Tenacibaculum species (T. dicentrarchi, T. finnmarkense, and T. maritimum). Look a little closer, and it becomes a powerful tool for understanding disease expression, intervention needs, and research priorities.

This figure shows the prevalence (%) of lesion severity, scored from 0 (no visible lesions) to 4 (severe lesions), across different tissues. Rather than a simple “disease present or absent” view, it reveals how disease manifests differently depending on the pathogen species and tissue type.

Key insights emerge immediately:

• Disease impact is not uniform
  Each Tenacibaculum species presents a distinct lesion profile. Some show higher severity in the mouth, others more moderate but widespread impacts across tissues. This reinforces that “Tenacibaculum” is not a single disease experience, but a spectrum.

• Tissue matters
  Gill, mouth, and skin show very different lesion distributions. For example, higher lesion severity in the mouth for certain species highlights feeding impairment and welfare implications, while gill involvement signals respiratory stress and potential mortality risk.

• Severity distribution matters more than averages
  The stacked bars show not just whether lesions occur, but how severe they are across a population. This is critical for interpreting subclinical disease, production losses, and treatment thresholds.

In short, this graph shows where, how, and how severely disease expresses—information that cannot be captured by mortality data alone.

For feed producers, pharmaceutical companies, and farm-focused R&D teams, this type of data is foundational. It guides treatment development in a direction to help make the biggest impact.

This graph is not just a snapshot of lesion scores, it is a reflection of why applied research and diagnostics are essential to the future of aquaculture. It shows that disease is nuanced, that pathogens behave differently, and that informed decisions require detailed, tissue-level understanding.

For clients conducting research, this kind of data transforms trials into insights.
For producers, it transforms observations into action.
For the industry, it transforms complexity into clarity.

Sometimes, a picture really is worth a thousand words, especially when it helps the entire sector make smarter, more sustainable decisions.