AMPHIBIOCAPILLARIA TRITONISPUNCTATI (NEMATODA, TRICHURIDAE) INFECTIONS IN THE RED-SPOTTED NEWT NOTOPHTHALMUS V. VIRIDESCENS FROM WESTERN WEST-VIRGINIA

A total of 124 (55 females and 69 males) adult red-spotted newts, Noto phthalmus v. viridescens (Rafinesque), were collected from Wayne Count y, West Virginia, throughout 1995 and examined for Amphibiocapillaria tritonispunctati (Diesing, 1851) Moravec, in 1986. Prevalence was high er in female newts (65.5%) than males (52.2%), but the difference was not significant (X-2 = 1.705; P > 0.05). Prevalence was lowest (37.5%) in February/March and highest (90.0%) in October. Mean abundances of 2.0 and 1.7 were recorded for female and male newts, respectively. Sex ratios of A. tritonispunctati were female-biased (1.45:1), a ratio si gnificantly different (X-2 = 7.14; P < 0.01) from the expected 1:1 rat io. A total of 230 nematodes were collected with 54%, 34%, 7%, and 3% found in the upper small intestine, mid-region of the small intestine, large intestine, and lower small intestine, respectively. This aggreg ation in the upper small intestine was highly significant (X-2 = 156.9 ; 3 df; P < 0.001).