Larvae of Contracaecum sp. (Nematoda: Anisakidae) in the threatened freshwater fish Sandelia capensis (Anabantidae) in South Africa

0461976 - BC 2017 RIV DE eng J - Journal Article
Moravec, František - van Rensburg, C.J. - Van As, L. L.
Larvae of Contracaecum sp. (Nematoda: Anisakidae) in the threatened freshwater fish Sandelia capensis (Anabantidae) in South Africa.
Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. Roč. 120, č. 3 (2016), s. 251-254. ISSN 0177-5103. E-ISSN 1616-1580
R&D Projects: GA ČR GBP505/12/G112
Institutional support: RVO:60077344
Keywords : parasitic nematode * third-stage larva * paratenic host * endangered fish species * Africa
Subject RIV: EG - Zoology
Impact factor: 1.549, year: 2016

Third-stage larvae of the nematode genus Contracaecum Railliet et Henry, 1912 (Contracaecum sp.) were, for the first time, recorded from the abdominal cavity of the threatened endemic freshwater fish Sandelia capensis (Cuvier) in South Africa. The larval morphology indicated that they belong to a species of which the adults are parasitic in fish-eating birds. Although the nematode seems to be a common parasite of S. capensis in the locality under study (prevalence 23%), the low intensity of infection recorded (1 to 4) and the generally known low pathogenicity of Contracaecum larvae in fish indicate that this parasite probably does not represent a danger to the local population of this threatened fish species.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0261513