Summary: | A standardized method was developed for artificially infecting the European eel with Anguillicola crassus , a parasitical swim bladder nematode. For this purpose, an intermediate host, Paracyclops fimbriatus , and a paratenic host, Cyprinus carpio , were used. Parasite prevalence in the artificially infected eels was very high, although there was a large variation in the number of worms per eel. Compared to other methods of artificial infection described in the literature, this method appears to be more efficient ad reliable; there were also more infectious larvae that were recovered and the mortality rate of eels under treatment was lower.
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