Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T06:59:52.011Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influence of petroleum hydrocarbons on the endoparasitic helminths of the common eider, Somateria mollissima, from Newfoundland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2010

R.A. Khan ,
C.V. Chandra ,
P.J. Earle ,
G.J. Robertson ,
P. Ryan  and
S. Jamieson
R.A. Khan*
Affiliation:
Biology Department, Memorial University and Canadian Wildlife Service Science Building, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1B 3X9, Canada
C.V. Chandra
Affiliation:
Biology Department, Memorial University and Canadian Wildlife Service Science Building, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1B 3X9, Canada
P.J. Earle
Affiliation:
Biology Department, Memorial University and Canadian Wildlife Service Science Building, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1B 3X9, Canada
G.J. Robertson
Affiliation:
Wildlife Research Division, Environment Canada, 6 Bruce Street, Mount Pearl, NL, A1N 4T3, Canada
P. Ryan
Affiliation:
Biology Department, Memorial University and Canadian Wildlife Service Science Building, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1B 3X9, Canada
S. Jamieson
Affiliation:
Biology Department, Memorial University and Canadian Wildlife Service Science Building, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1B 3X9, Canada
*
*Fax: +1 709 737 4000 E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A comparison of commonly occurring metazoan parasites in the digestive tract was made between common eiders, Somateria mollissima, that were contaminated with oil and reference birds confiscated from illegal hunting. There was a greater number of commonly occurring parasites and their abundance in reference than in oiled eiders. Except for an acanthocephalan, Polymorphus botulus, which was embedded in the wall of the intestinal tract, most of the other taxa of parasites, including trematodes, cestodes and nematodes, were probably voided from the birds following ingestion of oil. Reference eiders harboured fewer species and a substantially lower mean abundance of parasites than those studied in Newfoundland and Labrador more than four decades ago; this may be a signal of a changing prey base or an increase in prey availability as winter ice cover continues to decline.

Type
Research Papers
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 85 , Issue 4 , December 2011 , pp. 430 - 434
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bishop, C.A. (1971) Helminth parasites of the common eider duck, Somateria mollissima (L.) in Newfoundland and Labrador. Unpublished MSc thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.Google Scholar
Bishop, C.A. & Threlfall, W. (1974) Helminth parasites of the common eider duck, Somateria mollissima (L.) in Newfoundland and Labrador. Proceedings of the Helminthological Society, Washington 41, 25–35.Google Scholar
Borgsteede, F.H.M., Okulewicz, A., Zoun, P.E.F. & Okulewicz, J. (2005) The gastrointestinal helminth fauna of the eider duck (Somateria mollissima L.) in the Netherlands. Helminthologia 42, 83–87.Google Scholar
Bush, A.O., Lafferty, K.D., Lotz, J.M. & Shostak, A.W. (1997) Parasitology meets ecology on its own terms: Margolis et al. revisited. Journal of Parasitology 83, 575–581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bustnes, J.O. & Galaktionov, K.V. (2004) Evidence of a state-dependent trade-off between energy intake and parasite avoidance in Stellar's eiders. Canadian Journal of Zoology 82, 1566–1571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Camphuysen, C.J., Berrevoets, C.M., Cremers, W.M., Dekinga, A., Dekker, R., Ens, B.J., van der Have, T.M., Kats, R.K.H., Kuiken, T., Leopold, M.F., van der Meer, J. & Piersma, T. (2002) Mass mortality of common eiders (Somateria mollissima) in the Dutch Wadden Sea, winter 1999/2000: starvation in a commercially exploited wetland of international importance. Biological Conservation 106, 303–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carscadden, J.E., Montevecchi, W.A., Davoren, G.K. & Nakashima, B.S. (2002) Trophic relationships among capelin (Mallotus villosus) and seabirds in a changing ecosystem. ICES Journal of Marine Science 59, 1027–1033.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chardine, J.W., Robertson, G.J. & Gilchrist, H.G. (2008) Seabird harvest in Canada. pp. 20–29 in Merkel, F. & Barry, T. (Eds) Seabird harvest in the Arctic. Circumpolar Seabird Group (CBird), CAFF Technical Report No. 16. Akureyri, Iceland, CAFF International Secretariat.Google Scholar
Chaulk, K.G., Robertson, G.J., Collins, B.T., Montevecchi, W.A. & Turner, B. (2005) Evidence of recent population increases in common eiders breeding in Labrador. Journal of Wildlife Management 69, 805–809.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ching, H.I. (1989) Profilicollis botulus Van Cleave 1916 from diving ducks and shore birds of British Columbia Canada. Journal of Parasitology 75, 33–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D'Alba, L., Monaghan, P. & Nager, R.G. (2010) Advances in laying date and increasing population size suggest positive responses to climate change in common eiders Somateria mollissima in Iceland. Ibis 152, 19–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Descamps, S., Gilchrist, H.G., Bêty, J., Butler, E.I. & Forbes, M.R. (2009) Costs of reproduction in a long-lived bird: large clutch size is associated with low survival in the presence of a highly virulent disease. Biology Letters 5, 278–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drinkwater, K.F. (2004) Atmospheric and sea ice conditions in the Northwest Atlantic during the decade, 1991–2000. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science 34, 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilliland, S.G. & Robertson, G.J. (2009) Composition of eiders harvested in Newfoundland. Northeastern Naturalist 16, 501–518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilliland, S.G., Gilchrist, H.G., Rockwell, R.F., Robertson, G.J., Savard, J.-P.L., Merkel, F. & Mosbech, A. (2009) Evaluating the sustainability of harvest among northern common eiders Somateria mollissima borealis in Greenland and Canada. Wildlife Biology 15, 24–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goudie, R.I., Robertson, G.J. & Reed, A. (2000) Common eider (Somateria mollissima). pp. 32in Poole, A. & Gill, F. (Eds) The birds of North America, No. 546. Philadelphia, PA, Birds of North America Inc.Google Scholar
Hario, M., Mazerolle, M.J. & Saurola, P. (2009) Survival of female common eiders Somateria m. mollissima in a declining population of the northern Baltic Sea. Oecologia 159, 747–756.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khan, R.A. & Ryan, P. (1991) Long term effects of crude oil on common murres (Uria aalge) following rehabilitation. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 46, 216–222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Khan, R.A. & Thulin, J. (1991) Influence of pollution on parasites of aquatic animals. Advances in Parasitology 30, 201–238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lehikoinen, A., Christensen, T.K., Öst, M., Kilpi, M., Saurola, P. & Vattulainen, A. (2008) Large-scale change in the sex ratio of a declining eider Somateria mollissima population. Wildlife Biology 14, 288–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leighton, F.A., Peakall, D.B. & Butler, R.G. (1983) Heinz-body hemolytic anemia from the ingestion of crude oil: a primary toxic effect in marine birds. Science 20, 871–873.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liat, L.B. & Pike, A.W. (1980) The incidence and distribution of Profilicollis botulus (Acanthocephala), in the eider duck, Somateria mollissima, and in its intermediate host the shore crab, Carcinus maenas, in north east Scotland. Journal of Zoology London 190, 39–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miles, A.K., Flint, P.L., Trust, K.A., Ricca, M.A., Spring, S.E., Arrieta, D.E., Hollmen, T. & Wilson, B.W. (2007) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure in Stellar's eiders (Polysticta stelleri) and Harlequin ducks (Histronicus histronicus) in the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 26, 2694–2703.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rail, J.-F. & Cotter, R. (2007) Sixteenth census of seabird populations in the Sanctuaries of the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 2005. Canadian Field Naturalist 121, 287–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, G.J. & Gilchrist, H.G. (1998) Evidence for population declines among Common Eiders breeding in the Belcher Islands, Northwest Territories. Arctic 51, 378–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suydam, R.S., Dickson, D.L., Fadely, J.B. & Quakenbush, L.T. (2000) Population declines of King and Common Eiders of the Beaufort Sea. Condor 102, 219–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thieltges, D.W., Hussel, B. & Baekgaard, H. (2006) Endoparasites in common eiders Somateria mollissima from birds killed by an oil spill in the northern Wadden Sea. Journal of Sea Research 55, 301–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, A.B. (1985) Analysis of Profilicollis botulus (Acanthocephala: Echinorhynchidae) burdens in the shore crab, Carcinus maenas. Journal of Animal Ecology 54, 595–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiese, F.K. & Robertson, G.J. (2004) Assessing seabird mortality from chronic oil discharges at sea. Journal of Wildlife Management 68, 627–638.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiese, F.K. & Ryan, P.C. (2003) The extent of chronic marine oil pollution in southeastern Newfoundland waters assessed through beached bird surveys 1984–1999. Marine Pollution Bulletin 46, 1090–1101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed