Parasites of Fish from the Great Lakes - Great Lakes Fishery ...

Aspidobothreans
Cotylogaster occidentalis was the only aspidobothrean found infecting the intestine of only
Aplodinotus grunniens in one study.
Cestodes
Twenty-two species of adult cestodes in seven families infected Lake Ontario fish. Eleven species
are in the Proteocephalidae with Proteocephalus being the most-common genus (9 species). The
genera Eubothrium, Bothriocephalus, and Triaenophorus each are represented by two species.
Many species are host specific to one fish species or one family. Glaridacris catostomi and
Hunterella nodulosa were found only on catostomids.
Nine species of larval/immature cestodes in five families were found. Bothriocephalus cuspidatus
and Proteocephalus sp. were the only immature cestodes occurring in the intestine. All other
species were found in non-intestinal sites. Three species of larval cestodes (Diphyllobothrium
ditremum, Diphyllobothrium laruei, and Ligula intestinalis) are in the Diphyllobothriidae. Three
species of Triaenophorus infected the muscle, liver, and mesentery of several fish species. Larvae
of Proteocephalus ambloplitis and Triaenophorus nodulosus each infected nine fish species.
Nematodes
Sixteen species of adult nematodes representing seven families have been found. The
Cystidicolidae and Rhabdochonidae each were represented by four species. Four species are in
the genus Rhabdochona. Most species occurred in the digestive tract, except for Cystidicola spp.
(swim bladder), Philometra cylindracea (body cavity), Philometra sp. (gills, blood vessel), and
Philometroides nodulosa (fins). Hysterothylacium brachyurum infected six fish species, and
Dichelyne cotylophora, Cystidicola farionis, and Spinitectus gracilis each infected five fish
species. Some species, such as Truttaedacnitis clitellarius, P. cylindracea, P. nodulosa,
Cystidicoloides ephemeridarum, and Rhabdochona milleri, are host-specific to one fish species or
one family.
Ten species of larval/immature nematodes in eight families were found. Cosmocephalus
obvelatus, Paracuaria adunca, Contracaecum spiculigerum, Hysterothylacium brachyurum,
Eustrongylides tubifex, Spiroxys sp., and Philometra cylindracea were represented by larval
stages occurring in the body cavity, liver, and mesentery. Camallanus oxycephalus, Spinitectus
sp., and Rhabdochona sp. were immature nematodes found in the intestine. Immature individuals
of Camallanus oxycephalus and larval Eustrongylides tubifex each infected eight fish species.
Acanthocephalans
Thirteen species of adult acanthocephalans in four families have been documented. Nine species
are in the Neoechinorhynchidae, with Neoechinorhynchus rutili infecting six fish species.
However, most species in this family (Neoechinorhynchus crassus, N. cristatus, N. notemigoni,
N. saginatus, N. tenellus, N. tumidus, and Octospinifer macilentus) are host-specific.
430