The parasite assemblage in the spiral intestine of the shark Mustelus canis.
The parasite assemblage in the 8 chambers of the spiral intestine of 49 specimens of the shark Mustelus canis collected from Long Island Sound and off the coast of Virginia was investigated. Assemblages within host individuals were composed of up to 3 of 4 species of cestodes: the trypanorhynch species Prochristianella tumidula and Lacistorhynchus tenuis and the hooked tetraphyllidean species Calliobothrium verticillatum and Calliobothrium lintoni. Each individual shark hosted 1-3 (mean = 2.17) tapeworm species and 1-166 (mean = 34.3) tapeworm individuals. The assemblage consisted of 2 core species, 1 secondary species, and 1 satellite species. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences among the areas of the 8 intestinal chambers. ANOVAs of worm density among chambers revealed that each of the 4 species exhibited site specificity within the spiral intestine. Least significant difference analysis revealed that each of the species, except C. verticillatum, was usually found in the anterior 3 chambers. Calliobothrium verticillatum was more commonly found in the middle region of the organ, centered around chamber 4. Horn's information index indicated that L. tenuis and C. lintoni had the greatest amount of overlap within the spiral intestine and the congeners C. lintoni and C. verticillatum had the least amount of overlap. No evidence of interaction among the species in this assemblage was found. In cases where observations could be made, neither cestode total length nor location within the spiral intestine appeared to be affected by the presence of other individuals or species respectively. There was some evidence of underutilized space; the posteriormost chamber was vacant in all 49 sharks examined and 91.8% of sharks had at least 2 vacant chambers. Linear regression revealed no relationship between shark total length and either total number of worms or total number of individuals of each of the 4 species of cestodes. The chi-square test revealed no evidence that the 4 species do not occur independently among host individuals. The number of species and number of individuals in M. canis were low when compared to the marine fish Sebastes nebulosus. These values for M. canis more closely resemble values for freshwater fishes. The comparatively much greater host specificity of these tapeworms may at least partially account for this difference. We propose that site specificity may have a phylogenetic component, in a manner similar to that of host specificity.
Cislo
P R
PR
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs 06269-3043.
Caira
J N
JN
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002589:Cestoda / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology; D002590:Cestode Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D007422:Intestines / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012754:Sharks / Q000469:parasitology*; D014768:Virginia / Q000453:epidemiology