Heartworms in Halichoerus grypus : first records of Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocercidae; Filarioidea) in 2 grey seals from the North Sea
Abstract The assumed definitive host of the heartworm Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocerdidae; Filarioidea) is the harbour seal ( Phoca vitulina ). This filaroid nematode parasitizing in cardiac ventricles and blood vessel lumina of harbour seals ( P. vitulina ) has a low prevalence and seldom c...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0031182023000501 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0031182023000501 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0031182023000501 2024-04-28T08:23:04+00:00 Heartworms in Halichoerus grypus : first records of Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocercidae; Filarioidea) in 2 grey seals from the North Sea Lehnert, Kristina Herzog, Insa Boyi, Joy Ometere Gross, Stephanie Wohlsein, Peter Ewers, Christa Prenger-Berninghoff, Ellen Siebert, Ursula 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0031182023000501 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0031182023000501 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Parasitology volume 150, issue 9, page 781-785 ISSN 0031-1820 1469-8161 Infectious Diseases Animal Science and Zoology Parasitology journal-article 2023 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031182023000501 2024-04-09T06:56:17Z Abstract The assumed definitive host of the heartworm Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocerdidae; Filarioidea) is the harbour seal ( Phoca vitulina ). This filaroid nematode parasitizing in cardiac ventricles and blood vessel lumina of harbour seals ( P. vitulina ) has a low prevalence and seldom causes severe health impacts. The seal louse ( Echinophthirius horridus ) is the assumed intermediate host for transmission of A. spirocauda filariae between seals, comprising a unique parasite assembly conveyed from the terrestrial ancestors of pinnipeds. Although grey seals ( Halichoerus grypus ) are infected by seal lice, heartworm infection was not verified. Analysing a longterm dataset compiled over decades (1996–2021) of health monitoring seals along the German coasts comprising post mortem investigations and archived parasites, 2 cases of A. spirocauda infected male grey seals were detected. Tentative morphological identification was confirmed with molecular tools by sequencing a section of mtDNA COI and comparing nucleotide data with available heartworm sequence. This is the first record of heartworm individuals collected from the heart of grey seals at necropsy. It remains puzzling why heartworm infection occur much less frequently in grey than in harbour seals, although both species use the same habitat, share mixed haul-outs and consume similar prey species. If transmission occurs directly via seal louse vectors on haul-outs, increasing seal populations in the North- and Baltic Sea could have density dependent effects on prevalence of heartworm and seal louse infections. It remains to be shown how species-specificity of filarial nematodes as well as immune system traits of grey seals influence infection patterns of A. spirocauda . Article in Journal/Newspaper harbour seal Phoca vitulina Cambridge University Press Parasitology 150 9 781 785 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Infectious Diseases Animal Science and Zoology Parasitology |
spellingShingle |
Infectious Diseases Animal Science and Zoology Parasitology Lehnert, Kristina Herzog, Insa Boyi, Joy Ometere Gross, Stephanie Wohlsein, Peter Ewers, Christa Prenger-Berninghoff, Ellen Siebert, Ursula Heartworms in Halichoerus grypus : first records of Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocercidae; Filarioidea) in 2 grey seals from the North Sea |
topic_facet |
Infectious Diseases Animal Science and Zoology Parasitology |
description |
Abstract The assumed definitive host of the heartworm Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocerdidae; Filarioidea) is the harbour seal ( Phoca vitulina ). This filaroid nematode parasitizing in cardiac ventricles and blood vessel lumina of harbour seals ( P. vitulina ) has a low prevalence and seldom causes severe health impacts. The seal louse ( Echinophthirius horridus ) is the assumed intermediate host for transmission of A. spirocauda filariae between seals, comprising a unique parasite assembly conveyed from the terrestrial ancestors of pinnipeds. Although grey seals ( Halichoerus grypus ) are infected by seal lice, heartworm infection was not verified. Analysing a longterm dataset compiled over decades (1996–2021) of health monitoring seals along the German coasts comprising post mortem investigations and archived parasites, 2 cases of A. spirocauda infected male grey seals were detected. Tentative morphological identification was confirmed with molecular tools by sequencing a section of mtDNA COI and comparing nucleotide data with available heartworm sequence. This is the first record of heartworm individuals collected from the heart of grey seals at necropsy. It remains puzzling why heartworm infection occur much less frequently in grey than in harbour seals, although both species use the same habitat, share mixed haul-outs and consume similar prey species. If transmission occurs directly via seal louse vectors on haul-outs, increasing seal populations in the North- and Baltic Sea could have density dependent effects on prevalence of heartworm and seal louse infections. It remains to be shown how species-specificity of filarial nematodes as well as immune system traits of grey seals influence infection patterns of A. spirocauda . |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lehnert, Kristina Herzog, Insa Boyi, Joy Ometere Gross, Stephanie Wohlsein, Peter Ewers, Christa Prenger-Berninghoff, Ellen Siebert, Ursula |
author_facet |
Lehnert, Kristina Herzog, Insa Boyi, Joy Ometere Gross, Stephanie Wohlsein, Peter Ewers, Christa Prenger-Berninghoff, Ellen Siebert, Ursula |
author_sort |
Lehnert, Kristina |
title |
Heartworms in Halichoerus grypus : first records of Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocercidae; Filarioidea) in 2 grey seals from the North Sea |
title_short |
Heartworms in Halichoerus grypus : first records of Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocercidae; Filarioidea) in 2 grey seals from the North Sea |
title_full |
Heartworms in Halichoerus grypus : first records of Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocercidae; Filarioidea) in 2 grey seals from the North Sea |
title_fullStr |
Heartworms in Halichoerus grypus : first records of Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocercidae; Filarioidea) in 2 grey seals from the North Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Heartworms in Halichoerus grypus : first records of Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocercidae; Filarioidea) in 2 grey seals from the North Sea |
title_sort |
heartworms in halichoerus grypus : first records of acanthocheilonema spirocauda (onchocercidae; filarioidea) in 2 grey seals from the north sea |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0031182023000501 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0031182023000501 |
genre |
harbour seal Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
harbour seal Phoca vitulina |
op_source |
Parasitology volume 150, issue 9, page 781-785 ISSN 0031-1820 1469-8161 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031182023000501 |
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Parasitology |
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150 |
container_issue |
9 |
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781 |
op_container_end_page |
785 |
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