FURTHER STUDY OF CONTRACAECUM PELAGICUM (NEMATODA: ANISAKIDAE) IN SPHENISCUS MAGELLANICUS (AVES: SPHENISCIDAE) FROM TWO SOUTHWEST ATLANTIC COAST SITES

GARBIN L; G.T. NAVONE; J.I. DIAZ; F. CREMONTE

JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY

Allken press

Lugar: kansas; Año: 2007 vol. 93 p. 143 - 150

0022-3395

The anisakid species Contracaecum pelagicum Johnston and Mawson, 1942 is reported for first time on two different sites on the Argentine coast (Península Valdés, 42º04’S, 63º38’W and Mar del Plata, 38º05’S, 57º38’W), parasitizing the Magellanic Penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus Foster. Morphometrical analysis and further studies in detail on adult specimens and fourth-stage larvae were done using light and scanning electron microscopes. The presence of bifurcated interlabia differences the present species from the all other of the genus, except from C. variegatum, which has a double number of precloacal papillae and smaller spicules, and from C. eudyptulae, which has fewer precloacal papillae. Ecological parameters as prevalence, mean intensity and abundance were calculated for host populations from both sampling sites. In this paper we present the first detailed description of C. pelagicum adults and fourth-stage larvae from S. magellanicus and morphometrical data between adult specimens of S. magellanicus and the Black-browed Albatross, Diomedea melanophris Temminck from Argentinean coasts are compared.