Research Article

Occurrence of Tetrameres spinosa (Maplestone, 1931) Baylis, 1939 (Nematoda: Tetrameridae) in wild ducks from North-Western Poland

Agata Stapf, Katarzyna Kavetska , Katarzyna Królaczyk, Bogumiła Pilarczyk

West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin

1. Acta Sci. Pol. Zootechnica, 10(4), 2011, 115‒124

Abstract. Nematodes from the genera Tetrameres (Creplin 1846) are cosmopolitan and polyxenic parasites of birds living inland or associated with aquatic environment. These parasites are characterized by a strong sexual dimorphism and strict topospecificity, limited to the proventriculus of the host. The aim of this paper is the presentation of the morphological and ecological characteristics of T. spinosa rarely observed in Europe (Maplestone, 1931) yet typical for wild birds from the Far East. The examined nematodes were isolated from the alimentary canals of 1005 wild Anatinae (Anseriformes: Anatidae). The parasites were measured using a micrometer eyepiece, and the analysis of the quantitative structure was performed using the following parameters: extensiveness, intensity, relative density, and dominance index. The morphological description of T. spinosa in this paper is generally consistent with known information on the species, although certain differences were observed in the anatomy of some structures near the mouth of the nematode. The nematode was found in 46 out of the 1005 examined ducks (4.6%), and representing the following species: Aythya ferina, A. fuligula, A. marila, Clangula hyemalis and Melanitta nigra. The typical hosts are ducks from the genus Aythya wintering in the southwestern Baltic.

Keywords: Anatinae, Nematoda, Tetrameres spinosa