Heartworms in Halichoerus grypus: first records of Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocercidae; Filarioidea) in 2 grey seals from the North Sea
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...
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Cambridge University Press
2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182023000501 https://doaj.org/article/e1d8c3cff8844626a6db5d03877ffca2 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e1d8c3cff8844626a6db5d03877ffca2 2023-09-05T13:20:01+02:00 Heartworms in Halichoerus grypus: first records of Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocercidae; Filarioidea) in 2 grey seals from the North Sea Kristina Lehnert Insa Herzog Joy Ometere Boyi Stephanie Gross Peter Wohlsein Christa Ewers Ellen Prenger-Berninghoff Ursula Siebert 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182023000501 https://doaj.org/article/e1d8c3cff8844626a6db5d03877ffca2 EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0031182023000501/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0031-1820 https://doaj.org/toc/1469-8161 doi:10.1017/S0031182023000501 0031-1820 1469-8161 https://doaj.org/article/e1d8c3cff8844626a6db5d03877ffca2 Parasitology, Vol 150, Pp 781-785 (2023) Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) health monitoring insect vector molecular parasitology seal louse (Echinophthirius horridus) stranding network Biochemistry QD415-436 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Microbiology QR1-502 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182023000501 2023-08-20T00:34:08Z 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 Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Parasitology 150 9 781 785 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) health monitoring insect vector molecular parasitology seal louse (Echinophthirius horridus) stranding network Biochemistry QD415-436 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Microbiology QR1-502 |
spellingShingle |
Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) health monitoring insect vector molecular parasitology seal louse (Echinophthirius horridus) stranding network Biochemistry QD415-436 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Microbiology QR1-502 Kristina Lehnert Insa Herzog Joy Ometere Boyi Stephanie Gross Peter Wohlsein Christa Ewers Ellen Prenger-Berninghoff Ursula Siebert Heartworms in Halichoerus grypus: first records of Acanthocheilonema spirocauda (Onchocercidae; Filarioidea) in 2 grey seals from the North Sea |
topic_facet |
Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) health monitoring insect vector molecular parasitology seal louse (Echinophthirius horridus) stranding network Biochemistry QD415-436 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
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 |
Kristina Lehnert Insa Herzog Joy Ometere Boyi Stephanie Gross Peter Wohlsein Christa Ewers Ellen Prenger-Berninghoff Ursula Siebert |
author_facet |
Kristina Lehnert Insa Herzog Joy Ometere Boyi Stephanie Gross Peter Wohlsein Christa Ewers Ellen Prenger-Berninghoff Ursula Siebert |
author_sort |
Kristina Lehnert |
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 |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182023000501 https://doaj.org/article/e1d8c3cff8844626a6db5d03877ffca2 |
genre |
harbour seal Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
harbour seal Phoca vitulina |
op_source |
Parasitology, Vol 150, Pp 781-785 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0031182023000501/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0031-1820 https://doaj.org/toc/1469-8161 doi:10.1017/S0031182023000501 0031-1820 1469-8161 https://doaj.org/article/e1d8c3cff8844626a6db5d03877ffca2 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182023000501 |
container_title |
Parasitology |
container_volume |
150 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
781 |
op_container_end_page |
785 |
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1776200770119532544 |