How to translate text using browser tools
1 February 2011 Seasonal Occurrence of Opechona pyriforme Metacercariae (Digenea: Lepocreadiidae) in Eirene tenuis Medusae (Hydrozoa: Leptothecata) From a Hypersaline Lagoon in Western Gulf of Mexico
Luis Felipe Martell-Hernández, Alberto Ocaña-Luna, Marina Sánchez-Ramírez
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Seasonal occurrence of Opechona pyriforme metacercariae in the Eirene tenuis population from Laguna Madre, Mexico was analyzed in zooplankton samples collected in October 1997 and January, May, and July 1998. Eirene tenuis medusae were present in May, July, and October, although parasites were found only in October and July samples. Host population density was positively correlated with both surface water temperature and salinity. Total sample prevalence was 3.74%, mean abundance of the parasite was 0.06, and intensity of infection ranged between 1 and 59 metacercariae/host. Prevalence differed significantly among seasons, while intensity of infection did not. Parasite distribution was found to be highly aggregated. Although O. pyriforme infected hydromedusae of all sizes, prevalence was higher in sizes above 2.11 mm umbrella diameter. Additionally, a tendency towards increasing intensity of infection values with increasing umbrella diameter of medusae was observed. This is the first record of E. tenuis as a second intermediate host of O. pyriforme, as well as the first record of this helminth in the Gulf of Mexico.

Luis Felipe Martell-Hernández, Alberto Ocaña-Luna, and Marina Sánchez-Ramírez "Seasonal Occurrence of Opechona pyriforme Metacercariae (Digenea: Lepocreadiidae) in Eirene tenuis Medusae (Hydrozoa: Leptothecata) From a Hypersaline Lagoon in Western Gulf of Mexico," Journal of Parasitology 97(1), 68-71, (1 February 2011). https://doi.org/10.1645/GE-2384.1
Received: 13 November 2009; Accepted: 1 August 2010; Published: 1 February 2011
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top