I do know a guy who might have some answers and I'll try to remember to e-mail him. Yours is an interesting goal! A discus raising friend up here,used to send specimens to Auburn University about 15 years back.

A couple of considerations: the best way to detect a disease is to dissect a dying fish. I made arrangements for a concerned gentleman that way once, but the pet shop which offered that service is gone.

The next best thing is to get the dead fish to a pathologist within a half an hour of death. Much after that and the disease organisms may have died with the fish or have left the body. I suppose in some cases bodies might still contain cysts and eggs, but the carcasses become difficult to work with.

Also, most people who can do those sort of things have bills to pay and they would deserve and ask for some sort of compensation.

There are vets who can do that stuff. If you were to ask at shops well known for their fish care and the sophistication of their craft, they might be able to give you leads. So might that big public aquarium. One could write biology departments or check with the fisheries agencies.

One almost needs to get that info and develop some sort of friendship or client relationship before there is a need to analyze a deceased fish.

Wonder what one would ask on Google. :)

By the way, I'm glad that your pleco is uneffected by an obvious disease. However since most species are wild caught, they can be carriers of illnesses too. That's one reason I don't like wild caught Loricariids in my breeding set-ups. Many Cory species are wild caught too, but as omnivores (as opposed to vegetarians) they aren't as badly starved and vulnerable to diseases as the suckermouth cats.