From Horror Movie to Hatchery: The Real ‘Thing’ Lurking in Aquaculture

In the spirit of October and all things spooky, let’s talk about one of aquaculture’s scariest villains: Tenacibaculum. Much like the classic horror movie The Thing, this bacterial invader lurks beneath the surface, spreading silently, adapting quickly, and leaving destruction in its wake.

In John Carpenter’s The Thing, the alien threat creeps in unseen, infecting its host, and then revealing itself in grotesque and devastating ways. Sound familiar? That’s because Tenacibaculum behaves with eerie similarities in fish populations. Once it finds its way onto a fish’s barriers , it works insidiously, breaking down tissue, weakening defenses, and turning a healthy population into a scene of horror.

Instead of monstrous transformations, aquaculture producers see severe skin, mouth and gill lesions,  and reduced feeding, often leading to significant mortality. Like The Thing, Tenacibaculum spreads rapidly in crowded systems and across regions.

Global losses from Tenacibaculum are estimated in the tens of millions of dollars annually. Beyond financial damage, this bacterial menace undermines fish welfare and creates ongoing stress for producers.

Unlike the movie, where the only hope was flame and paranoia, aquaculture has better tools on the horizon. Onda was first to market with a reliable T. maritimum study model, and this month we’ve expanded our “monster-hunting kit” to include T. dicentrarchi and T. finnmarkense. These models help innovators test vaccines, feeds, and treatments in controlled conditions, ensuring solutions are reliable and ready.

So, this Halloween season, while you’re enjoying a horror flick, remember there are real-life “Things” lurking in aquaculture, but thanks to science and innovation, producers don’t have to face them alone. Onda’s expanded Tenacibaculum platform is here to help our industry unmask this microbial monster and keep fish populations safe. Although admittedly not as cool as hanging out of the side of a chopper trying to prevent the spread of disease, these new models will have a real-world impact on the sustainability of our industry, saving fish and money.