Metazoan parasites and commensals of five crab (Brachyura) species from eastern Canada

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Brattey, John, Elner, Robert W., Uhazy, Leslie S., Bagnall, Anne E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1985
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Canada; Chionoecetes opilio
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z85-329; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z85-329

Seven hundred and twenty-one brachyuran crabs (Cancer borealis, Cancer irroratus, Carcinus maenas, Chionoecetes opilio, Geryon quinquedens) were collected in waters off eastern Canada during 1980–1982 and the prevalences of metazoan parasites and commensals determined. The survey revealed larval stages of three species of parasite, Microphallus sp. (Platyhelminthes: Digenea), Polymorphus sp. (Acanthocephala: Palaeacanthocephala), Nectonema sp. (Nematomorpha: Nectonematoidea), and five species of ectocommensal, Eteonopsis geryonicola (Annelida: Polychaeta), Johanssonia arctica (Annelida: Hirudinea), Ectocotyla paguri and Ectocotyla multitesticulata (Platyhelminthes: Turbellaria), and Carcinonemertes sp. (Nemertea: Monostilifera). New host records are reported for E. geryonicola in the branchial chambers of C. opilio and for Carcinonemertes sp. on egg masses of ovigerous G. quinquedens. All of the larval parasites, except Nectonema sp., and all of the ectocommensals, except J. arctica and Ectocotyla spp., are previously unreported from crabs off eastern Canada. Our findings suggest that the crab species studied do not support a diverse community of metazoan parasites or commensals.