Adjustment of anisakid nematode life cycles to the high Antarctic food web as shown by Contracaecum radiatum and C. osculatum in

• Main Authors: The Weddell Sea, Heinz Kloserl, Joachim Plotzi, Harry Palm, Annette Bartsch, Gerd Hubolcf
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1991
• Subjects: Key words; Antarctic; Coritracaecum; life cycles; food web; Leptoriychotes weddelli; Weddell; Antarc*; antarcticus; Weddell Seal; Weddell Seals
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.511.3742; http://www.marineparasitology.com/Papers/Kloser et al. 1992.pdf

Abstract: The infestation of Weddell seals and several fish species by the anisakid nematodes Contracaecum osculatum and C. radiatum was compared. Nematode numbers in Weddell seal stomachs ranged from 30 560 to 122 640. Third stage larvae from seals and fish were separated into a short and a long type. The short type was related to C. radiatum and the long type to C. osculatum. The short type was more abundant in pelagic fish species, whereas the long type prevailed in benthic fish species. Fish-feeding channichthyids Cryodraco antarcticus and Chionodraco myersi seemed to play an important role as paratenic hosts for the third stage larvae of both Contracaecum species. Different advantageous and detrimental features of a benthic versus a pelagic life cycle under high Antarctic ecological conditions are discussed. Varying abundance of the two nematode species in hosts maybe controlled by differences in theirlifecycles, which follow either a pelagicor abenthic food web. Crucial importance is thus given to the local availability of pelagic versus benthic food resources for Weddell seals.