Prevalence and Intensity of Otodistomum hydrolagi (Trematoda: Azygiidae) in Spotted Ratfish, Hydrolagus colliei (Chondrichthyes: Chimaeridae) from the Coastal Waters of British Columbia, Canada.

Prevalence and Intensity of Otodistomum hydrolagi (Trematoda: Azygiidae) in Spotted Ratfish, Hydrolagus colliei (Chondrichthyes: Chimaeridae) from the Coastal Waters of British Columbia, Canada. J Parasitol. 2020 Feb;106(1):25-29 Authors: Morrison PR, King JR, Goater TM Abstract The prevalence and intensity of the trematode, Otodistomum hydrolagi, were determined for the first time in Spotted Ratfish, Hydrolagus colliei. Spotted Ratfish specimens were collected during bottom-trawl surveys in Queen Charlotte Sound (QCS, n = 31) and off the west coast of Vancouver Island (WCVI, n = 242). In all instances, the flukes were found within the abdominal cavity. Most flukes were mature (intrauterine eggs were present) and ranged in length from 9.1 to 61.5 mm, with a mean ± SD length of 28.5 ± 12.1 mm (n = 52). Fluke length was positively correlated with Spotted Ratfish precaudal length (PCL), and no Spotted Ratfish smaller than 247-mm PCL was infected by O. hydrolagi. The overall prevalence (95% confidence interval [CI]) and mean intensity (95% CI) of O. hydrolagi were 27.8% (22.6-33.6) and 1.24 (1.09-1.43), respectively. Neither prevalence nor mean intensity differed between host location or host sex. The majority (86%) of infected hosts harbored a single fluke (range 1-5), but 4 Spotted Ratfish were infected with 3 or more flukes, which accounted for 16% of all observed O. hydrolagi. The fluke population exhibited an aggregated distributi...
Source: The Journal of Parasitology - Category: Parasitology Authors: Tags: J Parasitol Source Type: research