Anguillicola (Anguillicoides) crassus is a swimbladder nematode parasite of Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758). The present study investigates the morphology and pathogenicity of A. crassus in European eel, as well as, the effects of different aquatic environments on the infection of A. crassus, in Greece. A total of 268 nematodes were collected from four estuarine systems in Greece. In all collected parasites, measurements carried out to define the morphological characteristics of parasites: parasite length and width, oesophagus max length and max width. Τhe mean parasite length was 23.50 mm (95% CI: 22.42-24.58) for females, 12.95 mm (95% CI: 12.25-13.64) for the males and 6.39 mm (95% CI: 5.27-7.50) for the juveniles. The mean parasite width was 1.99 mm (95% CI: 1.88-2.10) for females, 0.93 mm (95% CI: 0.86-1.00) for males and 0.51 mm (95% CI: 0.39-0.64) for juveniles. In total, the mean intensity was found 3.15 (95% CI: 2.53-3.78), while the highest mean intensity per eel was 8.00 (95% CI: 0.00-29.51) in Tholi Lagoon and the lowest was 2.20 (95% CI: 0.36-4.04) in Amvrakikos Gulf. Longitudinal and transverse histological sections of two adults A. crassus and two swimbladders were carried out. Multiple granules were observed, as a tissue reaction of the organism to swath around the 4th stage larvae (L4) that have entered the swimbladder. Molecular analysis was performed on three female adults A. crassus derived from eel specimens coming from the Vistonis estuarine system. The high reproductive capacity of the parasite reveals that A. anguilla has low effective defense mechanisms against the parasite. Also, the morphometric variations of the A. crassus seems to have a plastic feature which is being differently expressed when exposed to various environments.
Keywords: Anguilla anguilla; Anguillicolla crassus; Greece; Mean intensity; Morphometric characteristics.
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