Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T23:01:34.375Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Establishment, survival, site selection and development of Leptorhynchoides thecatus in largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

C. C. Leadabrand
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0118, USA
B. B. Nickol
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0118, USA

Summary

Establishment, survival and distribution of Leptorhynchoides thecatus (Acanthocephala) were investigated in largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, fed 10, 25, or 40 cystacanths and examined at 1, 3 or 5 weeks post-infection. Worms established widely in the alimentary tracts of bass but by 5 weeks post-infection had localized in the pyloric caeca and intercaecal region. Other individuals moved to parenteral sites where they remained immature, though viable. In the 10- and 25-level exposures, establishment and survivorship in the alimentary tract were roughly proportional to the dose of cystacanths. After 1 week post-infection in the 40-level exposure class, numbers of worms in the alimentary tract decreased significantly and parenteral occurrence increased significantly. Total survival of L. thecatus appeared to be density-independent. Maturation of worms was retarded temporarily as intensity of infection increased, but by 5 weeks post-infection worms from all doses were at roughly the same stage of development within sex. The caeca and intercaecal area apparently did not differ in their suitability for maturation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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

Amin, O. M. (1988). Acanthocephala from lake fishes in Wisconsin: On the ecology of Leptorhynchoides thecatus (Rhadinorhynchidae). Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington 55, 252–5.Google Scholar
Amin, O. M. & Burrows, J. M. (1977). Host and seasonal associations of Echinorhynchus salmonis (Acanthocephala: Echinorhynchidae) in Lake Michigan fishes. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 34, 325–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashley, D. C. & Nickol, B. B. (1989). Dynamics of the Leptorhynchoides thecatus (Acanthocephala) suprapopulation in a Great Plains reservoir. Journal of Parasitology 75, 4654.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Degiusti, D. L. (1949). The life-cycle of Leptorhynchoides thecatus (Linton), an acanthocephalan of fish. Journal of Parasitology 35, 437–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ewald, J. A. (1987). Studies on the density-dependent survivorship of Leptorhynchoides thecatus in Lepomis cyanellus. M.S. thesis, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.Google Scholar
Ewald, J. A. & Nickol, B. B. (1989). Availability of caecal habitat as a density-dependent limit on survivorship of Leptorhynchoides thecatus in green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus. Parasitology 98, 447–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Samuel, N., Nickol, B. B. & Mayes, M. A. (1976). Acanthocephala of Nebraska fishes. American Midland Naturalist 96, 391406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uznanski, R. L. & Nickol, B. B. (1982). Site selection, growth, and survival of Leptorhynchoides thecatus (Acanthocephala) during the prepatent period in Lepomis cyanellus. Journal of Parasitology 68, 686–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Cleave, H. J. (1919). Acanthocephala from the Illinois River, with descriptions of species and a synopsis of the family Neoechinorhynchidae. Bulletin of the Illinois Natural History Survey 13, 225–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Cleave, H. J. (1923). Acanthocephala from the fishes of Oneida Lake, New York. Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 2, 7384.Google Scholar
Van Cleave, H. J. & Mueller, J. F. (1934). Parasites of Oneida Lake fishes. Part III. A biological and ecological survey of the worm parasites. Roosevelt Wild Life Annals 3, 161334.Google Scholar
Venard, C. E. & Warfel, J. H. (1953). Some effects of two species of Acanthocephala on the alimentary canal of the largemouth bass. Journal of Parasitology 39, 187–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed