title: Determinants and effects of sinus worm Skrjabingylus nasicola (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidae) infestation in invasive American mink Neovison vison in Germany.
abstract: Skrjabingylus nasicola (Leuckart, 1842) are geographically widespread nematodes that parasitize the nasal and frontal sinus cavities of smaller mustelids. As most prior work was solely based on the analysis of bone injuries of museum skull, little is known about the determinants and effects of infestation in the host species. Working on fresh skulls, we aimed to analyze infestation patterns in American mink (Neovison vison Schreber, 1777) from nine study areas in northern Germany and to identify factors that explained infestation prevalence and intensity in the host species. The prevalence (46.7-62.9 %) and infestation intensity values (4.5-10.89 nematodes) reported here were relatively large, especially compared to other American mink populations in Europe. Considering mink diet, our study sites probably harbored a larger number of infested paratenic hosts and climate did not have a substantial negative influence on survival of S. nasicola larvae. We did not observe any significant sex-age differences in either prevalence or intensity of S. nasicola infestation. We did not find a negative impact of an infestation on the host animals' body weight, confirming prior results that the parasite is not a significant mortality factor in mustelids. Our study suggests that this holds even outside the native distributional range where the host's defenses might not be optimally adapted to an autochthonous parasite.
authors.affiliation: Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle, 2160, Luxembourg, Luxembourg. mike-heddergott@web.de.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heddergott
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, University of Würzburg, Emil-Fischer-Strasse 40, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pohl
authors.affiliation: , Göttinger Straße 28, 37308, Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Steinbach
authors.affiliation: Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle, 2160, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: L Cantú
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Salazar
authors.affiliation: , Hauptstraße 22, 36129, Gersfeld-Hettenhausen, Germany.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle, 2160, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Frantz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008681:Metastrongyloidea / Q000502:physiology*; D008907:Mink / Q000469:parasitology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012886:Skull / Q000469:parasitology; D017206:Strongylida Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*
keywords: American mink; Germany; Intensity; Nematoda; Neovison vison; New host species; Prevalence; Skrjabingylus nasicola