Search for elaphostrongyline parasites in cervids from Alberta.

Abstract

No elaphostrongyline parasites were found in the cranial cavities of 140 while-tailed deer, 20 mule deer, and 37 moose from Alberta. No larvae with dorsal caudal spines were found in white-tailed deer feces from eastern Alberta, but spined larvae indistinguishable from those of Parelaphostrongylus spp. were found in mule-deer feces from western Alberta. These results suggest that P. tenuis is not found in Alberta and that the larvae from mule deer may represent a metastrongyloid, probably a species of Parelaphostrongylus, that is not found in the cranial cavity as an adult.