Eye fluke infection status in Baltic cod, Gadus morhua, after three decades and their use as ecological indicators

Foojan Mehrdana; Moonika H Marana; Jakob Skov; Qusay Z M Bahlool; Diana Sindberg; Mai Mundeling; Bettina C Overgaard; Per W Kania; Kurt Buchmann

doi:10.1515/ap-2015-0058

Eye fluke infection status in Baltic cod, Gadus morhua, after three decades and their use as ecological indicators

Acta Parasitol. 2015 Sep;60(3):423-9. doi: 10.1515/ap-2015-0058.

Authors

Foojan Mehrdana, Moonika H Marana, Jakob Skov, Qusay Z M Bahlool, Diana Sindberg, Mai Mundeling, Bettina C Overgaard, Per W Kania, Kurt Buchmann

PMID: 26204178
DOI: 10.1515/ap-2015-0058

Abstract

Eye flukes of the genus Diplostomum were recorded with a prevalence of 7.4% and a mean intensity of 11.9 (range 1-75) parasites per fish in eye lenses of a total of 188 Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, sampled in the Southeastern Baltic Sea from March 2013 to February 2014. A slight decrease of infection level, among the fish with body length ranging from 30 to 89.5 cm, was found when data were compared to a corresponding survey in the 1980s. Due to imprecise species identification of eye flukes based on morphometric analyses we present, as a baseline for further studies, rDNA sequences from a subsample of 19 eye flukes based on sequencing of a part of 18S, ITS-1, 5.8S, ITS-2 and part of 28S. We discuss the use of eye fluke recordings in Baltic cod as an environmental indicator due to the dependence of the parasite's life cycle on biotic (occurrence of snail and bird hosts) and abiotic (temperature and salinity) parameters.

MeSH terms

Animals
DNA, Helminth / chemistry
DNA, Helminth / genetics
DNA, Ribosomal / chemistry
DNA, Ribosomal / genetics
DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / chemistry
DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / genetics
Eye Diseases / epidemiology
Eye Diseases / veterinary*
Fish Diseases / epidemiology*
Fish Diseases / parasitology
Gadus morhua / parasitology*
Molecular Sequence Data
Parasite Load
Prevalence
RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / genetics
RNA, Ribosomal, 28S / genetics
RNA, Ribosomal, 5.8S / genetics
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
Trematoda / classification
Trematoda / genetics
Trematoda / isolation & purification*
Trematode Infections / epidemiology
Trematode Infections / veterinary*

Substances

DNA, Helminth
DNA, Ribosomal
DNA, Ribosomal Spacer
RNA, Ribosomal, 18S
RNA, Ribosomal, 28S
RNA, Ribosomal, 5.8S

Associated data

GENBANK/KJ888995
GENBANK/KJ888996
GENBANK/KJ888997
GENBANK/KJ888998
GENBANK/KJ888999
GENBANK/KJ889000
GENBANK/KJ889001
GENBANK/KJ889002
GENBANK/KJ889003
GENBANK/KJ889004
GENBANK/KJ889005
GENBANK/KJ889013