ANGUILLICOLA-CRASSUS IN THE BALTIC SEA - FIELD DATA SUPPORTING TRANSMISSION IN BRACKISH WATERS

Between 1990 and 1992 deep-snouted pipefish Syngnathus typhle and blac k goby Gobius niger were found to be infested by Stage 3 and 4 larvae and preadults of the swim bladder nematode Anguillicola crassus in Wis mar Bay (southwestern Baltic Sea) at a frequency of 9.6 and 0.7 %, res pectively. The high prevalence (59.4 %) of nematodes in European eels Anguilla anguilla in the Baltic may therefore be attributable not only to freshwater habitation of some eels, but also to the possibility th at they feed on affected copepods and small fishes in the brackish wat ers of the Baltic Sea.