Abstract
Gut content of Branchiobdella spp. was examined in 83-945 individuals belonging to 4 species, collected from 31 individuals of Astacus astacus (L.) and 12 individuals of Pontastacus leptodactylus (Esch.) from north-western and southern Poland. The results show the food of B. hexodonta Gruber, 1883 dwelling in the crayfish gill cavity to include fragments of the crayfish gills, which identifies the species as a parasite. In contrast, B. parasita Henle, 1835, B. kozarovi Subchev, 1978 and B. balcanica sketi Karaman, 1967 are found on the external covers of the crayfish are not parasitic. They feed on diverse items derived from the ambient environment and are thus epibiontic. Cannibalism was observed in all the species examined. Neither cannibalism nor the presence of larvae-containing cocoons of Argulus foliaceus (L.) (Branchiura), a fish parasite, on the crayfish carapace has been recorded in the literature so far.
Highlights
Species belonging to the genus Branchiobdella Odier, 1823 have been most often classified as external parasites of freshwater crayfish (Boldt 1940; Moszynski and Moszynska 1957; Wojtas 1964; Pop 1965; Schaperclaus 1979; and others)
Rotifers were most frequently recorded in B. parasita (32.6%) and B. kozarovi (5.4%), while the Conjugatophyceae occurred most frequently in B. kozarovi (18.1%) and B. balcanica sketi (7.2%), diatoms being most frequent (5.0%) in B. kozarovi
The maxi mum numbers of 25 and 12 rotifers were recorded in a single gut of adult B. parasita and B. kozarovi, respectively, the very small forms containing up to 2-8 rotifers
Summary
Species belonging to the genus Branchiobdella Odier, 1823 have been most often classified as external parasites of freshwater crayfish (Boldt 1940; Moszynski and Moszynska 1957; Wojtas 1964; Pop 1965; Schaperclaus 1979; and others) Similar information regarding B. kozarovi Subchev, 1978 was pro vided by Bosko (1983) Those authors did not focus on details of feeding of the branchiobdells they were working on. Based on their observations on gut contents, Kahl and Wojtas (1974) suggested those Branchiobdella species dwelling in the crayfish gill cav ity were parasitic, as opposed to those inhabiting external covers which can be classified among semi-parasites or commensals. In several recent publications (Nobile et al 1994, 1995), some species including B. parasita and B. pentodonta italica are again listed as crayfish parasites
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