Occurrence of nematode parasites in Calocaris macandreae (Crustacea: Decapoda) from an Irish Sea population

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONA number of nematodes are known to develop in decapod crustaceans. These parasite nematodes are present in the coelom of the host either free or surrounded by different types of host cells. All belong to the order Ascaridida or Spirurida and most of them develop only to the third larval stage in the decapod host; further development takes place in a predator of the crustacean which is generally a teleost or elasmobranch (Berland, 1961; Ouspenskaia, 1960; Petter, 1970; Poinar & Kuris, 1975;Uspenskaja, 1953; Yamaguti, 1961). The life-cycle in most cases is not fully understood. Ouspenskaia (1960) and Uspenskaja (1953, 1963) deduced the life-cycle for Ascarophis morrhuae van Beneden and A. filiformis Poljanski in the Barents Sea by relating the larvae found in decapod crustaceans through affinity of characters to the adults present in cod (Gadus morhua L.) and haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus L.). Similarly, the life-cycle of the spirurid Proleptus obtusus was described by Lloyd (1928); the larvae occur in a decapod crustacean, usually the hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus L. and in some cases the shore crab Carcinus maenas L. and the adults are found in the lesser spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula L.). A more complex life-cycle has been proposed for some anisakids such as Anisakis, Contracaecum and Hysterothylacium (Berland, 1961; Norris & Overstreet, 1976; Wootten, 1978) in which more than one intermediate host is required.