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Profilicollis botulus (Acanthocephala) abundance in the eider duck (Somateria mollissima) on the Ythan estuary, Aberdeenshire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

A. B. Thompson
A. B. Thompson
Affiliation:
Culterty Field Station, Aberdeen University, Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland AB4 OAA
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Summary

The abundance of Profilicollis botulus was monitored in eider ducks for 3 years. No significant difference in P. botulus abundance was found between eiders taken alive and those collected dead from the shore line, or between adult males and adult females. Adult male eiders had a seasonal pattern of infection. Incubating female eiders lost their infection in almost all cases, suggesting that a seasonal pattern of infection must also occur in these birds. Eiders in their first winter had P. botulus abundances which were approximately 10 times that of adult eiders, but by the following summer the abundance had declined to that found in adults. Data are compared with previous studies undertaken on the Ythan estuary. Captive eiders were used to determine the developmental rate of female P. botulus and the percentage of administered cystacanths which established in the intestine. There was no evidence to suggest that male and female P. botulus have different life–spans.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 91 , Issue 3 , December 1985 , pp. 563 - 575
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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