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Eustrongylides (Nematoda) Infection in Mummichogs and Other Fishes of the Chesapeake Bay Region
Author(s) -
Weisberg Stephen B.,
Morin Richard P.,
Ross Eric A.,
Hirshfield Michael F.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1986)115<776:eniima>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - fundulus , biology , chesapeake bay , bay , estuary , tributary , salinity , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , zoology , ecology , geography , cartography , archaeology
A survey of mummichogs Fundulus heteroclitus for Eustrongylides sp. (Nematoda) infection was conducted at 20 Chesapeake Bay tributary stations in 1983. Factors that might influence the prevalence of infection, including both station characteristics (salinity of the water and density of oligochaete intermediate hosts) and mummichog characteristics (length and sex), were also investigated. The prevalence of infection (percentage of fish parasitized) ranged from 0 to 41.3% among stations, was positively correlated with fish length, and was independent of fish sex. Prevalence was negatively correlated with salinity and was highest at stations near sewage treatment plants and near a heron rookery. The observed among‐station variation in parasite prevalence appeared to reflect differences in density of an oligochaete intermediate host. Over 2,000 fish of 19 species other than mummichogs were also examined for Eustrongylides infection, but only other species of Fundulus were found to be infected.