Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T05:25:59.106Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Comparison between spring and autumn infection by Corynosoma (Acanthocephala) in the ringed seal Pusa hispida in the Bothnian Bay of the Baltic Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

Eero Helle
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
E. Tellervo Valtonen
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

Summary

Corynosoma spp. (Acanthocephala) infection in ringed seals (Pusa hispida) is compared in spring and in autumn in the Bothnian Bay, northern Baltic Sea. The material consists of more than 13400 specimens: 7590 from the intestines of 13 seals captured in April and May 1978 and 5850 from 29 seals captured in October and November.

Corynosoma strumosum infection had approximately the same intensity in spring and autumn (mean 76 and 66 individuals/infected seal, maxmum 313 and 324 individuals, respectively). C. semerme specimens, on the other hand, were 37 times more numerous in spring than in autumn (504 compared with 136/infected seal, maximum 1700 and 1230 individuals, respectively). The ratio of C. strumosum to C. semerme was 1:6·3 in spring and 1:2·0 in autumn, as calculated from the total material. Corynosoma infection was more recent on average in spring than in autumn, as judged both from the proportion of males and immature females and from the distribution of C. semerme in the intestine. The feeding habits of the ringed seals and the rate of development of Corynosoma infection are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Awachie, J. B. E. (1966). The development and life history of Echinorhynchus truttae Schrank, 1788 (Acanthocephala). Journal of Helminthology 40, 1132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crompton, D. W. T., Arnold, S. & Barnard, D. (1972). The patent period and production of eggs of Moniliformis dubius (Acanthocephala) in the small intestine of male rats. International Journal for Parasitology 2, 319–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crompton, D. W. T. & Walters, D. E. (1972). An analysis of the course of infection of Moniliformis dubius (Acanthocephala) in rats. Parasitology 64, 517–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crompton, D. W. T. & Whitfield, P. J. (1968). The course of infection and egg production of Polymorphus minutus (Acanthocephala) in domestic ducks. Parasitology 58, 231–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dailey, M. D. (1975). The distribution and intraspecific variation of helminth parasites in pinnipeds. Rapports et Procès-verbaux des Réunions, Conseil International pour L'exploration de la Mer 169, 338–52.Google Scholar
De Giusti, D. L. (1949). The life cycle of Leptorhynchoides thecatus (Linton), an ancanthocephalan of fish. Journal of Parasitology 35, 437–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dellamure, S. L. & Popov, V. N. (1974). On seasonal variations in the fauna of helminths of the Okhotsk ringed seal. Parazitologiia 8, 8992. (In Russian with English summary.)Google Scholar
Dellamure, S. L. & Popov, V. N. (1975). K izutseeniju gel'mintofauny lahtaka, obitajustsego v Sahalinskom zalive. Nautsnyje doklady vyssej skoly. Biologicheskie nauki 18, 710. (In Russian.)Google Scholar
Dellamure, S. L., Iurakhno, M. V. & Popov, V. N. (1976). On the helminth fauna of Bering Sea pinnipeds from the Karaginsk Gulf. Parazitologiia 10, 325–32.Google Scholar
Forssell, A. (1906). Förekomsten af Echinorhynchus semernis Forssell hos vaåra sälar. Meddelanden af Societas pro fauna et flora Fennica 31, 64.Google Scholar
Goltsev, V. N., Iurakhno, M. V. & Popov, V. N. (1978). About the locality of the Karaga and Anadyr populations of harbour seals, Phoca vitulina largha. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 57, 280–7. (In Russian with English summary.)Google Scholar
Granlund, E. (1974). Sälar i Bottniska viken. Österbotten 31, 5774.Google Scholar
Helle, E. (1979). Growth and size of the ringed seal (Phoca (Pusa) hispida Schreber) in the Bothnian Bay, Baltic. Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde 44, 208–20.Google Scholar
Helle, E. & Valtonen, E. T. (1980). On the occurrence of Corynosoma spp. (Acanthocephala) in the ringed seal (Pusa hispida) in the Bothnian Bay, Finland. Canadian Journal of Zoology 58, 298303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laws, R. M. (1952) A new method of age determination for mammals. Nature, London 196, 972–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaren, I. A. (1958). The biology of the ringed seal (Phoca hispida Schreber) in the Eastern Canadian Arctic. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 118, 197.Google Scholar
Mohr, E. (1952). Die Robben der europädischen Gewässer. Frankfurt am Main: Schoeps.Google Scholar
Müller-Wille, L. L. (1969). Biometrical comparison of four populations of Phoca hispida Schreb. in the Baltic and White Seas and Lakes Ladoga and Saimaa. Commentationes Biologicae 31, 112.Google Scholar
Nicholas, W. L. & Hynes, H. B. N. (1958). Studies on Polymorphus minutus (Goeze, 1782) (Acanthocephala) as a parasite of the domestic duck. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 52, 3647.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nuorteva, P. (1965). A glacial relict not previously reported from the Finnish lake district – Corynosoma semerne (Forssell) (Ancanthocephala). Annales Zoologici Fennici 2, 140–1.Google Scholar
Olofsson, O. (1933). Om vikarsälens, Phoca hispida annelata, storlek och föda. Fauna och Flora 28, 1728.Google Scholar
Palosuo, E. (1974). Ice in the middle of the Bay of Bothnia. Acta Lapponica Fenniae 8, 90–4. (In Finnish with English summary.)Google Scholar
Popov, V. N. (1975). New data on the helminth fauna of Histriophoca fasciata Zimm. from the southern part of the Okhotsk Sea. Parazitologiia 9, 31–6. (In Russian with English summary.)Google Scholar
Scheffer, V. B. (1950). Growth layers on the teeth of Pinnipedia as an indication of age. Science 112, 309–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Siivonen, L. (1974). Mammals of Northern Europe. 2nd Ed.Keuruu: Otava. (In Finnish.)Google Scholar
Söderberg, S. (1974). Östersjöns sälpopulationer. Statens Naturvaårdsverk 419, 129.Google Scholar
Tormosov, D. D. & Rezvov, G. V. (1978). Information on the distribution, number and feeding habits of ringed and grey seals in the Gulfs of Finland and Riga in the Baltic Sea. Finnish Game Research 37, 1417.Google Scholar
Valtonen, E. T. (1980). Seasonal occurrence of Corynosoma (Acanthocephala) in the fish in the Bothnian Bay of the Baltic Sea. Manuscript, Department of Zoology, University of Oulu.Google Scholar
Valtonen, T. (1975). Results and comments from profundal zone benthos investigations in the northern Bothnian Bay. Manuscript, Perämeri Research Station, University of Oulu.Google Scholar