Abundance and maturity of three species of parasitic anisakine nematodes ( Pseudoterranova decipiens , Contracaecum osculatum , Anisakis simplex ) occurring in Sable Island harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina )

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Stobo, Wayne T, Fanning, L Paul, Beck, Brian, Fowler, G Mark
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2002
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Island Harbour; harbour seal; Northwest Atlantic; Phoca vitulina
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z02-016; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z02-016

Three species of anisakine nematodes (Pseudoterranova decipiens, Contracaecum osculatum, Anisakis simplex) co-occur in the stomachs of Sable Island harbour seals (Phoca vitulina). The sealworm, P. decipiens, was the commonest nematode in these seals. Anisakis simplex was found in much smaller numbers, none mature, indicating that the harbour seal is not a true final host to this parasite. Contracaecum osculatum was rare but half were mature. Pseudoterranova decipiens increased in abundance with size of the seal. An inverse relationship was observed between P. decipiens abundance and the age of seals of similar size, probably owing to changes in diet. Numbers of P. decipiens may have declined over the summer, coincident with an increase in the proportion of mature worms in the stomach. From similarities between the worm infections of grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and harbour seals, we infer that A. simplex abundance may also exhibit a decline in abundance. Contracaecum osculatum was only encountered during the latter half of the year, suggesting an association with prey species of corresponding periodicity in their distribution. We estimate that the abundance of sealworm in harbour seals is about 2.5% of that carried by the grey seal population. This could imply that harbour seals represent an insignificant vector of the sealworm infecting commercial fish species in the Northwest Atlantic, provided density-dependent relationships exist between worm abundances in different host species.