title: Larvae of Contracaecum sp. (Nematoda: Anisakidae) in the threatened freshwater fish Sandelia capensis (Anabantidae) in South Africa.
abstract: Third-stage larvae of the nematode genus Contracaecum Railliet et Henry, 1912 (Contracaecum sp.) were, for the first time, recorded from the abdominal cavity of the threatened endemic freshwater fish Sandelia capensis (Cuvier) in South Africa. The larval morphology indicated that they belong to a species of which the adults are parasitic in fish-eating birds. Although the nematode seems to be a common parasite of S. capensis in the locality under study (prevalence 23%), the low intensity of infection recorded (1 to 4) and the generally known low pathogenicity of Contracaecum larvae in fish indicate that this parasite probably does not represent a danger to the local population of this threatened fish species.
authors: Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budě#jovice, Czech Republic.
authors: Franti Ek
authors: FE
authors: Moravec
authors: Candice Jansen
authors: CJ
authors: van Rensburg
authors: Liesl L
authors: LL
authors: Van As
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056727:Endangered Species; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D005399:Fishes / Q000469:parasitology*; D007814:Larva; D009348:Nematoda / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013019:South Africa