title: Malformations of the gill filaments of the ruffe Gymnocephalus cernuus (L.) (Pisces) caused by echinostomatid metacercariae.
abstract: In parasite surveys of fishes from Lake Balaton and its tributaries in Hungary, infections with metacercariae of a species of the digenean genus Echinochasmus (Trematoda: Echinostomatidae) were found in seven species of fish. In ruffe, Gymnocephalus cernuus, malformations of the gill filaments apparently caused by these infections were observed. These malformations were in the form of bifurcations of the filaments at about their mid-length. At the point where the filaments bifurcate, an Echinochasmus metacercaria was always embedded in the cartilaginous ray of the gill filament. All specimens of the ruffe were found to be infected by these metacercariae, and each ruffe specimen was infected by 30-300 metacercariae. Such a bifurcation was found in all of the ruffe specimens, but, apart from these gill malformations, the metacercariae produced only local changes in the cartilage. In the other six infected fish species, only local signs were observed in the cartilage. Experimental infections of chicks with metacercariae resulted in the finding of the sexual adult (marita) of an unidentified species of Echinochasmus. ITS sequences of the adult and metacercaria corresponded with each other, and also with a cercaria isolated from a gravel snail (Lithoglyphus naticoides), with a 99.5-100% similarity.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Veterinary Medical Research, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Molnár
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK.
authors.forename: D I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Zoology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Szent István University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Majoros
authors.affiliation: Institute for Veterinary Medical Research, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Székely
authors.affiliation: Institute for Veterinary Medical Research, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sándor
authors.affiliation: Institute for Veterinary Medical Research, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary. cech.gabor@agrar.mta.hu.
authors.forename: G
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4060-4522
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cech
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004450:Echinostomatidae / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D005880:Gills / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000469:parasitology; D058488:Metacercariae / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D010471:Perches; D010802:Phylogeny; D018510:RNA, Helminth / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D014201:Trematode Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D018510:RNA, Helminth
keywords: 
  Gymnocephalus cernuus
  ; Digenea; ITS region; gill filaments; malformation