Folia Parasitologica 50[2] 109-114 (2003) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2003.019

Larval Spirurida (Nematoda) from the crab Macrophthalmus hirtipes in New Zealand

František Moravec1, Brian L. Fredensborg2, A. David M. Latham2, Robert Poulin2
1 Institute of Parasitology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
2 Department of Zoology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

Previously undescribed third-stage larvae of two species of Spirurida were found in the haemocoel of the stalk-eyed mud crab Macrophthalmus hirtipes (Heller) (Ocypodidae) in New Zealand. Examinations by light and scanning electron microscopy showed that the larger larvae (about 7 mm long) belonged to a species of Ascarophis van Beneden, 1871 (Cystidicolidae), the genus including parasites of fishes, whereas the smaller larvae (about 4-5 mm long) belonged to the Acuariidae, a family with species parasitic as adults mostly in aquatic birds. In a sample of 82 specimens of M. hirtipes collected in July 2002 from Papanui Inlet, on Otago Peninsula, South Island, 74 crabs (90.2%) were infected with larval nematodes with an intensity of 1-18 (mean 4.6) nematodes per crab; no distinction between nematode species was made in these estimates, although juvenile Acuariidae greatly outnumbered larval Ascarophis. Apparently, crabs play a role as intermediate hosts of these nematode species. This is the first record of larval representatives of Cystidicolidae and Acuariidae from invertebrates in the Australasian Region.

Keywords: Nematode larvae, Ascarophis, larval Acuariidae, intermediate host, crab, Macrophthalmus, New Zealand

Received: October 8, 2002; Accepted: February 28, 2003; Published: June 1, 2003  Show citation

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Moravec, F., Fredensborg, B.L., David Latham, A.M., & Poulin, R. (2003). Larval Spirurida (Nematoda) from the crab Macrophthalmus hirtipes in New Zealand. Folia Parasitologica, 50(2), 109-114. doi: 10.14411/fp.2003.019
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