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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]
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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

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