Development of Anguillicola crassus (Dracunculoidea, Anguillicolidae) in experimentally infected Balearic congers Ariosoma balearicum (Anguilloidea, Congridae)
B. Sures et al., Development of Anguillicola crassus (Dracunculoidea, Anguillicolidae) in experimentally infected Balearic congers Ariosoma balearicum (Anguilloidea, Congridae), DIS AQU ORG, 39(1), 1999, pp. 75-78
The development of Anguillicola crassus in experimentally infected Ariosoma
balearicum (Anguilloidea, Congridae) kept in seawater was studied in the l
aboratory. In parallel trials the effect of water salinity on the developme
nt of larval A. crassus in European eels Anguilla anguilla was also investi
gated using eels kept in seawater of a salinity of 34 parts per thousand. B
oth eel species were orally inoculated with L-3 larvae of A. crassus and th
en maintained for up to 3 mo at 18 degrees C in seawater. 110 d post infect
ion, no adult but larval (L-3 and L-4) stages of A. crassus were detected i
n the swimbladder wall of Balearic congers, although this period of time wa
s sufficient for the parasites to develop to the adult stage in European ee
l kept in seawater. The results presented suggest that the definitive host
specificity of A. crassus comprises species of the family Anguillidae (i.e,
the genus Anguilla), but not members of the Congridae. Theoretically howev
er, A. balearicum might serve as a metaparatenic host. Factors determining
the definitive host range of A. crassus remain to be elucidated, Water sali
nity does not seem to act as a factor affecting definitive host specificity
once the parasite has become ingested by the eel.