Cr. Kennedy et al., Composition and diversity of helminth communities in eels Anguilla anguilla in the River Tiber: long-term changes and comparison with insular Europe, J HELMINTH, 72(4), 1998, pp. 301-306
Most studies of helminth communities in the European eel Anguilla anguilla
have been undertaken in the British Isles, and there are very few analyses
of community composition and structure from continental Europe. To fill thi
s gap and test the hypothesis that helminth communities in freshwater eels
in the British Isles are not typical of those of continental Europe, helmin
th communities of eels in the River Tiber below Rome were analysed by seaso
n using data collected in 1980 and new data from 1996. The intestinal helmi
nth communities in the Tiber eels were species poor and characterized by lo
w diversity. Most eels harboured one or no parasite species and communities
were heavily dominated by the acanthocephalan Acanthocephalus clavula. Int
estinal helminth infracommunity richness and diversity did not differ betwe
en seasons within a year or between the same seasons in 1980 and 1996, alth
ough some changes in composition were apparent. Intestinal infracommunities
from Tiber eels were very similar in characteristics to those analysed fro
m the British Isles, and their temporal changes also showed close similarit
ies to those reported from rivers in the UK. It seems likely therefore that
conclusions derived from British studies can be applied to helminth commun
ities of eels on the continent.