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Life-cycle of Bothriocephalus claviceps, a specific parasite of eels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2009

T. Scholz
T. Scholz
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
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Abstract

The life-cycle of the tapeworm Bothriocephalus claviceps (Goeze, 1782) (Cestoda: Pseudophyllidea), a specific parasite of eels (Anguilla spp.), was studied under experimental conditions. It was demonstrated that the parasite completed its development within 4 months at the temperature range of 22–24°C. Embryonic development was finished in 2 days at this temperature, when coracidia spontaneously hatched. The rate of their development was controlled by water temperature, with delayed formation of coracidia at lower temperatures (8 days at 10–12°C). At 2–4 and 6°C, development did not take place but the eggs remained viable; at 33°C the eggs died. The procercoids developed in copepods of the species Macrocyclops albidus, M.fuscus, Megacyclops viridis, Cyclops strenuus, C. vicinus and Acanthocyclops vernalis (Copepoda: Cyclopidae); their development was finished after 8–12 days at 22–24°C. The definitive hosts, eels, acquired infection after ingestion of infected copepods; the prepatent period of the parasite was more than three months. Perch (Perca fluviatilis) and guppies (Poecilia reticulata) were shown to serve as paratenic hosts of the parasite; in guppies, the tapeworms survived up to 14 days after exposure and they developed similarly to tapeworms in the definitive host.

Type
Research Papers
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 71 , Issue 3 , September 1997 , pp. 241 - 248
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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