chytridiomycosis

noun

chy·​trid·​i·​o·​my·​co·​sis kī-ˌtri-dē-ō-mī-ˈkō-səs 

kə-

: a disease of amphibians caused by a chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) that infects the superficial layers of the epidermis resulting in degradation of the skin, disruption of gas exchange with the environment, and eventual death due to cardiac arrest

Frogs and salamanders worldwide are dying in catastrophic numbers, very likely of a fungal disorder called chytridiomycosis, which clogs an amphibian's skin and deranges its blood chemistry.

—Natalie Angier

… the pathophysiology of chytridiomycosis appears to be disruption to the osmoregulatory functioning of the skin and consequent osmotic imbalance that leads to cardiac standstill.

—Jamie Voyles et al.

Examples of chytridiomycosis in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Over the past half century, an infectious fungal disease called chytridiomycosis has been particularly deadly for amphibians, wiping out roughly 90 species and leading to the decline of another 400. —Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Oct. 2023

No one knows for sure how chytridiomycosis kills frogs, but theories point to severe imbalances in water and electrolytes, leading to a heart attack. —Matt Hrodey, Discover Magazine, 2 May 2023

Co-author Karen Lips began the study back before the disease chytridiomycosis, which is caused by a fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and has devastated amphibian populations, reached that place and began to afflict its inhabitants. —Andrew Moseman, Discover Magazine, 20 July 2010

Frogs can contract chytridiomycosis from the pathogen by swimming in infested waters, where the fungus lives, or brushing up against another infected animal. —Jackie Wattles, CNN, 24 Mar. 2023

Skin cancer only adds to a growing list of pathological consequences to our poor ecological choices - a list which includes devastating diseases like chytridiomycosis and avian malaria. —Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 1 Aug. 2012

Every untreated animal died of chytridiomycosis, but those bathed in the bacterium showed no symptoms. —Daniel Lametti, Discover Magazine, 7 Jan. 2011

Violacein-producing bacteria may help protect wild amphibians against chytridiomycosis. —Daniel Lametti, Discover Magazine, 7 Jan. 2011

The plummeting numbers of the frogs, which are endemic to Panama, is largely a result of chytridiomycosis, an infectious fungal disease that seems to be causing mass amphibian die-offs. —Discover Magazine, 29 June 2010

Word History

Etymology

New Latin chytridiomyc- (in Chytridiomycota, phylum name or Chytridiomycetes, class name) + -osis; Chyrtridiomycota probably from Chytridiomycetes, class name proposed earlier (from Chytridium, genus name + -o- -o- + -mycetes, borrowed from Greek mýkētes, plural of mýkēs "mushroom, fungus") + -ota -ota — more at chytrid, myco-

First Known Use

1998, in the meaning defined above