Helminth Fauna of Suckers (Catostomidae) of the Gila River System, Arizona. II. Five Parasites from Catostomus spp.

Abstract

Isoglaridacris hexacotyle (Linton, 1897) Mackiewicz, 1968 (Cestoda: Caryophyllaeidae), metacercariae of Clinostomum marginatum Rudolphi, 1819 (Trematoda: Clinostomidae) and Ornithodiplostomum ptychocheilus Faust, 1917 (Trematoda: Strigeidae), Neoechinorhynchus sp. Hamann, 1892 (Acanthocephala: Neoechinorhynchidae), and Illinobdella moorei Meyer, 1940 (Hirudinea: Piscicolidae) were recovered from Catostomus iinsignis and C. clarki from one or more of the following localities: Upper and Lower Verde and Salt rivers, tributaries of the Gila River. All but the first parasite are new host and locality records. Methods of fish capture and processing of worms, notes on the ecology and food habits of hosts, sites of infection, host-parasite interrelationships of the five parasites, and a morphological growth study of the first two are included. INTRODUCTION Between July 1966 and January 1967, 200 Catostomus clarki were captured from the Upper and Lower Salt, Verde, and San Pedro rivers of the Gila River, Arizona, and 375 C. insignis from all but the Upper San Pedro River (Amin, 1968). All were systematically examined for helminth parasites, which were absent from the San Pedro River. This is the second and last paper of this series. MATERIALS AND METHODS Native suckers, genus Catostomus, were obtained from streams by seining, gill netting, or shocking using the current supplied by a 110-v 900-w generator. The fish, always examined within 24-38 hours after capture, were kept, prior to examination, covered with ice in coolers, in a cold room (about 5 C), after which they were handled individually. Additional specimens were placed in tightly sealed plastic bags, quick-frozen by placing in another cold room (about -15 C), and were thawed shortly before dissection. Procedures used in dissection of the hosts and processing of I. hexacotyle, C. marginatum, 0. ptychocheilus, and I. moorei were previously described (Amin, 1969). Acanthocephalan worms recovered were not permanently mounted. Upon recovery, they were placed in 70% alcohol; an equal volume of glycerine was then added and the vials containing the worms were placed in a warm place after loosening the vial caps. A period of 2-4 weeks was necessary for the complete evaporation of alcohol and the 1 Abstracted from a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Doctor of Philosophy degree in zoology at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281.