An experimental immersion-challenge study with 2 strains was also performed. It fulfilled Koch's postulates and showed a median lethal concentration (LC50) of 4.27 × 105 and 1.66 × 106 cfu ml-1 for the F. columnare strains FC-HN and FC-CT, respectively. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of freshwater columnaris infection in P. hypophthalmus.