Folia Parasitologica 63:020 (2016) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2016.020

The life cycle of Huffmanela huffmani Moravec, 1987(Nematoda: Trichosomoididae), an endemic marine-relict parasite of Centrarchidae from a Central Texas spring

McLean L. D. Worsham¹, David G. Huffman¹, František Moravec², J. Randy Gibson³

¹ Freeman Aquatic Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA;

² Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic;

³ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Aquatic Resources Center, San Marcos, TX, USA

The life cycle of the swim bladder nematode Huffmanela huffmani Moravec, 1987 (Trichinelloidea: Trichosomoididae), an endemic parasite of centrarchid fishes in the upper spring run of the San Marcos River in Hays County, Texas, USA, was experimentally completed. The amphipods Hyalella cf. azteca (Saussure), Hyalella sp. and Gammarus sp. were successfully infected with larvated eggs of Huffmanela huffmani. After ingestion of eggs of H. huffmani by experimental amphipods, the first-stage larvae hatch from their eggshells and penetrate through the digestive tract to the hemocoel of the amphipod. Within about 5 days in the hemocoel of the experimental amphipods at 22 °C, the larvae presumably attained the second larval stage and were infective for the experimental centrarchid definitive hosts, Lepomis spp. The minimum incubation period before adult nematodes began laying eggs in the swim bladders of the definitive hosts was found to be about 7.5 months at 22 °C. This is the first experimentally completed life cycle within the Huffmanelinae.

Keywords: swim bladder nematode, Trichinelloidea, development, intermediate host, Amphipoda, Hyalella, Gammarus, fish, USA

Received: January 12, 2016; Accepted: April 14, 2016; Published online: June 10, 2016  Show citation