Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the distribution of aquatic mermithid Hydromermis Contorta in the main waterbodies of the Kaliningrad region. Benthos samples were collected during the summer, autumn and winter of 2008 in the littoral zone (0.5–1.0 m depths) of the Neman, Deyma, Angrapa, Pissa, Sheshupe and Primorskaya Rivers as well as in the Pravdinsk Reservoir, Lake Vishtynetskoe, and in the Vistula and Curonian lagoons. H. contorta was recorded in eight water bodies. Parasitic juveniles were found in the hemocoel of Chironomus plumosus larvae in summer and winter. The highest infestation of chironomids was revealed in the Neman River. Postparasitic larvae and adult helminths were found in macrozoobenthos samples throughout the research period. The free-living juvenile stage of H. contorta reached the highest abundance and biomass in the Angrapa River, the lowest abundance and biomass being recorded in the Deyma and Primorskaya Rivers.

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