<i>Echinogammarus stammen</i>(Amphipoda) as an intermediate host for<i>pomphorhynchus laevis</i>(Acanthocephala) parasite of fishes from the river Brenta

Abstract

Abstract A total of 212 specimens of the amphipod Echinogammarus stammeri was collected from the Grantorto locality, a sampling area of the River Brenta (northern Italy), and examined for larval stages of acanthocephalans. Larvae of Pomphorhynchus laevis were found in the hemocoel of 200 of them. At the same time, fishes of two different species were collected from the same area and found to contain adult stages of P. laevis. Most larvae were cystacanths (a new geographical record for cystacanths), of which only a few had fully everted necks and proboscides. A marked displacement of internal organs, such as intestine and digestive ceca, due to the presence of parasite larvae was observed in many hosts.