Terrestrial Gastropod Hosts of Parelaphostrongylus tenuis at the National Zoological Park's Conservation and Research Center, Virginia

Abstract

Terrestrial gastropods at the National Zoological Park's Conservation and Research Center (CRC) near Front Royal, Virginia, were surveyed from June 1985 to May 1986, to assess their role in transmission of the meningeal worm, Parelaphostrongylus tenuis. A total of 670 gastropods representing 9 families and 18 species was collected. The slug Deroceras laeve accounted for 50.4% of the specimens collected. Parelaphostrongylus tenuis infections were found in 15 gastropods (2.2% prevalence) representing 5 species; 5 of the infected gastropods were D. laeve. New host records for this nematode are Ventridens collisella and Philomycus carolinianus. Infected gastropods were recovered from June through October 1985 and in May 1986. All 6 sampling locations yielded infected gastropods, suggesting this parasite is widely distributed at the CRC, and is therefore likely to continue to pose a serious threat to exotic ungulates maintained there for conservation and research purposes.