Nematode eel parasite found inside acanthocephalan cysts – a “Trojan horse” strategy?
Abstract Background The invasive eel parasite Anguillicoloides crassus (syn. Anguillicola crassus ) is considered one of the major causes for the decline of the European eel ( Anguilla anguilla ) panmictic population. It impairs the swim bladder function and reduces swimming performance of its host....
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ftbiomed:oai:biomedcentral.com:s13071-014-0504-8 2023-05-15T13:28:19+02:00 Nematode eel parasite found inside acanthocephalan cysts – a “Trojan horse” strategy? Emde, Sebastian Rueckert, Sonja Kochmann, Judith Knopf, Klaus Sures, Bernd Klimpel, Sven 2014-11-18 http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/7/1/504 en eng BioMed Central Ltd. http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/7/1/504 Copyright 2014 Emde et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Anguillicoloides crassus Invasive species Neogobius melanostomus Life cycle strategy Parasite infection Intermediate host Hyperparasitism Research 2014 ftbiomed 2014-12-14T00:46:30Z Abstract Background The invasive eel parasite Anguillicoloides crassus (syn. Anguillicola crassus ) is considered one of the major causes for the decline of the European eel ( Anguilla anguilla ) panmictic population. It impairs the swim bladder function and reduces swimming performance of its host. The life cycle of this parasite involves different intermediate and paratenic hosts. Despite an efficient immune system of the paratenic fish hosts acting against infections with A. crassus , levels of parasitized eels remain high in European river systems. Recently, the round goby Neogobius melanostomus (Gobiidae) has become dominant in many rivers in Europe and is still spreading at a rapid pace. This highly invasive species might potentially act as an important, so far neglected paratenic fish host for A. crassus. Methods Based on own observations and earlier single sightings of A. crassus in N. melanostomus , 60 fresh individuals of N. melanostomus were caught in the Rhine River and examined to assess the infection levels with metazoan parasites, especially A. crassus . Glycerin preparations were used for parasite identification. Results The parasite most frequently found in N. melanostomus was the acanthocephalan Pomphorhynchus sp. (subadult stage) which occurred mainly encysted in the mesenteries and liver. Every third gobiid (P = 31.7%) was infected by A. crassus larvae (L3) which exclusively occurred inside the acanthocephalan cysts. No intact or degenerated larvae of A. crassus were detected elsewhere in the goby, neither in the body cavity and mesenteries nor in other organs. Affected cysts contained the acanthocephalan larvae and 1–12 (mI =3) living A. crassus larvae. Additionally, encysted larvae of the nematode Raphidascaris acus were detected in the gobies, but only in the body cavity and not inside the acanthocephalan cysts. Conclusions Based on our observations, we suggest that A. crassus might actively bypass the immune response of N. melanostomus by invading the cysts of acanthocephalan parasites of the genus Pomphorhynchus using them as “Trojan horses”. Providing that eels prey on the highly abundant round goby and that the latter transfers viable infective larvae of A. crassus , the new paratenic host might have a strong impact on the epidemiology of A. crassus . Other/Unknown Material Anguilla anguilla European eel BioMed Central |
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BioMed Central |
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language |
English |
topic |
Anguillicoloides crassus Invasive species Neogobius melanostomus Life cycle strategy Parasite infection Intermediate host Hyperparasitism |
spellingShingle |
Anguillicoloides crassus Invasive species Neogobius melanostomus Life cycle strategy Parasite infection Intermediate host Hyperparasitism Emde, Sebastian Rueckert, Sonja Kochmann, Judith Knopf, Klaus Sures, Bernd Klimpel, Sven Nematode eel parasite found inside acanthocephalan cysts – a “Trojan horse” strategy? |
topic_facet |
Anguillicoloides crassus Invasive species Neogobius melanostomus Life cycle strategy Parasite infection Intermediate host Hyperparasitism |
description |
Abstract Background The invasive eel parasite Anguillicoloides crassus (syn. Anguillicola crassus ) is considered one of the major causes for the decline of the European eel ( Anguilla anguilla ) panmictic population. It impairs the swim bladder function and reduces swimming performance of its host. The life cycle of this parasite involves different intermediate and paratenic hosts. Despite an efficient immune system of the paratenic fish hosts acting against infections with A. crassus , levels of parasitized eels remain high in European river systems. Recently, the round goby Neogobius melanostomus (Gobiidae) has become dominant in many rivers in Europe and is still spreading at a rapid pace. This highly invasive species might potentially act as an important, so far neglected paratenic fish host for A. crassus. Methods Based on own observations and earlier single sightings of A. crassus in N. melanostomus , 60 fresh individuals of N. melanostomus were caught in the Rhine River and examined to assess the infection levels with metazoan parasites, especially A. crassus . Glycerin preparations were used for parasite identification. Results The parasite most frequently found in N. melanostomus was the acanthocephalan Pomphorhynchus sp. (subadult stage) which occurred mainly encysted in the mesenteries and liver. Every third gobiid (P = 31.7%) was infected by A. crassus larvae (L3) which exclusively occurred inside the acanthocephalan cysts. No intact or degenerated larvae of A. crassus were detected elsewhere in the goby, neither in the body cavity and mesenteries nor in other organs. Affected cysts contained the acanthocephalan larvae and 1–12 (mI =3) living A. crassus larvae. Additionally, encysted larvae of the nematode Raphidascaris acus were detected in the gobies, but only in the body cavity and not inside the acanthocephalan cysts. Conclusions Based on our observations, we suggest that A. crassus might actively bypass the immune response of N. melanostomus by invading the cysts of acanthocephalan parasites of the genus Pomphorhynchus using them as “Trojan horses”. Providing that eels prey on the highly abundant round goby and that the latter transfers viable infective larvae of A. crassus , the new paratenic host might have a strong impact on the epidemiology of A. crassus . |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Emde, Sebastian Rueckert, Sonja Kochmann, Judith Knopf, Klaus Sures, Bernd Klimpel, Sven |
author_facet |
Emde, Sebastian Rueckert, Sonja Kochmann, Judith Knopf, Klaus Sures, Bernd Klimpel, Sven |
author_sort |
Emde, Sebastian |
title |
Nematode eel parasite found inside acanthocephalan cysts – a “Trojan horse” strategy? |
title_short |
Nematode eel parasite found inside acanthocephalan cysts – a “Trojan horse” strategy? |
title_full |
Nematode eel parasite found inside acanthocephalan cysts – a “Trojan horse” strategy? |
title_fullStr |
Nematode eel parasite found inside acanthocephalan cysts – a “Trojan horse” strategy? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Nematode eel parasite found inside acanthocephalan cysts – a “Trojan horse” strategy? |
title_sort |
nematode eel parasite found inside acanthocephalan cysts – a “trojan horse” strategy? |
publisher |
BioMed Central Ltd. |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/7/1/504 |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla European eel |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla European eel |
op_relation |
http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/7/1/504 |
op_rights |
Copyright 2014 Emde et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. |
_version_ |
1766403447742005248 |