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The life-cycle of the flatfish nematode Cucullanus heterochrous

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2024

M. Køie
M. Køie*
Affiliation:
Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, DK-3000 Helsingør, Denmark
*
*Fax: +45 49 26 11 65 E-mail: mblmk@inet.uni2.dk
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Abstract

Mature specimens of Cucullanus heterochrous Rudolphi, 1802 (Nematoda: Cucullanidae) were obtained from the intestine of the flounder, Platichthys flesus, from Danish waters. Eggs embryonate in seawater but do not hatch. Fully developed larvae pressed out of eggs are 430 μm long with amphids and dereids and enclosed within the cuticle of a previous larval stage. Infective larvae are believed to be in their third stage. Experimental studies showed that the polychaetes, Nereis spp., Scoloplos armiger, Brada villosa and Capitella sp., may act as intermediate hosts. In N. diversicolor the larvae increase their length to 1 mm within four weeks (15°C) without moulting. Experimental infections showed that larvated eggs are not infective to fish, whereas >550 μm long larvae from polychaetes survived in 4–24 cm long flounders and plaice, Pleuronectes platessa. Third-stage larvae 550 μm to 1.1 mm long were found in the submucosa of the intestine one week post infection. At a length of about 800 μm to 1.4 mm they moult to fourth-stage larvae. Fourth-stage larvae, immature and mature worms occur in the intestine and rectum. Fourth-stage larvae and adults survived experimental transfer from one flounder to another. Similar developmental stages survived for two weeks in the intestine of experimentally infected cod, Gadus morhua.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 74 , Issue 4 , December 2000 , pp. 323 - 328
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2000

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