Folia Parasitologica - Most viewed articles

First genetic characterisation and phylogenetic analysis of Trichomonadida from Gallus gallus domesticus (Aves: Phasianidae) and its nematode parasite Heterakis gallinarum (Ascaridida: Heterakidae) in Tunisia

Sarra Farjallah, Paolo Merella, Abdulaziz Nasser Alagaili, Nabil Amor

Folia Parasitologica 72:029 (2025) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2025.029  

Flagellated protozoa of the order Trichomonadida infect a variety of vertebrates, including poultry such as Gallus gallus domesticus (Linnaeus). Several trichomonad pathogens are of significant veterinary importance due to their role in diseases that cause high mortality rates in chickens. Despite the importance of Trichomonadida in poultry health, molecular studies on these protozoa in North Africa are limited. This study addresses this gap by investigating the genetic diversity and evolutionary relationships of Trichomonadida isolated from G. gallus domesticus and its nematode parasite Heterakis gallinarum (Schrank, 1788) in...

Thorny-headed worms (Acanthocephala) of the Patagonian blennie Eleginops maclovinus (Cuvier) from northern Patagonia, Argentina

Maité Aneley Barrena, Jesús Servando Hernández-Orts

Folia Parasitologica 72:030 (2025) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2025.030  

We report the fauna of the Acanthocephala of 120 Patagonian blennies Eleginops maclovinus (Cuvier) from northern Patagonia, Argentina. A total of 535 acanthocephalans belonging to five species were collected and identified using light microscopy. Juvenile and adult forms were only observed for Hypoechinorhynchus magellanicus Szidat, 1950 (Arhythmacanthidae). Juvenile forms of Corynosoma australe Johnston, 1937, Corynosoma cetaceum Johnston et Best, 1942 and Corynosoma shackletoni Zdzitowiecki, 1978 (Polymorphidae) were found encapsulated in the mesenteries. Juveniles of Profilicollis chasmagnathi (Holcman-Spector,...

Harmless parasites? Infections with Hemolivia mauritanica (Apicomplexa: Adeleorina: Karyolysidae) and Haemocystidium spp. (Apicomplexa: Haemosporida: Haemoproteidae) have a negligible impact on white cell counts in tortoise hosts

Žaneta Živčicová, Jan Škrábal, Pavlína Hájková, David Jandzik, Hossein Javanbakht, Peter Mikulíček, Pavel Široký

Folia Parasitologica 72:031 (2025) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2025.031  

The pathogenicity of haemogregarines and their effects on the health status of ectothermic hosts remain largely unexplored. In this study, we examined the impact of Hemolivia mauritanica (Sergent et Sergent, 1904) infection on the differential leukocyte count (DLC) as a measurable indicator of health in tortoise hosts. A total of 206 blood smears were analysed, including 181 from spur-thighed tortoises (Testudo graeca Linnaeus) and 25 from marginated tortoises (Testudo marginata Schoepff). Light microscopy was used to identify infected individuals, determine DLC, and quantify parasitaemia levels. Overall, H. mauritanica...

Diversity and community structure of ectoparasites infecting some elasmobranch species off the Tunisian coast

Feriel Youssef, Bouchra Benmansour, Lassaad Mchiri, Lamjed Mansour

Folia Parasitologica 72:032 (2025) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2025.032  

With more than 62 reported species, Tunisia has a rich diversity of elasmobranchs. However, investigations of their parasites in Tunisian waters remain rare and fragmented. With the global biodiversity crisis that most living species are facing, the study of parasite diversity is crucial for assessing ecosystem health and host-parasite interactions. In this study, 2,092 specimens of cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii) belonging to eight species, six genera and five families were sampled along the Tunisian coast and examined for their ectoparasites. The different host species were each infected by at least one ectoparasite species....

Description of Ophthalmonema diodontis gen. et sp. n. (Nematoda: Cystidicolidae), a parasite of the eye and surrouding tissues of porcupinefishes (Diodon spp.), with a key to cystidicolid genera

František Moravec, Craig A. Pelton, Heather D. S. Walden

Folia Parasitologica 73:002 (2026) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2026.002  

A new nematode genus and species, Ophthalmonema diodontis gen. et sp. n. (Cystidicolidae), are established based on female specimens (males remain unknown) collected from both eyes of an aquarium-kept spot-fin porcupinefish, Diodon hystrix Linnaeus (Diodontidae, Tetraodontiformes), originally caught in coastal waters off Florida, USA. Examination by light (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the mouth structure of this nematode, particularly the presence of two conspicuously large, rounded, opposing dorsoventral plates, each connected by a narrow bridge to the inner end of the pseudolabium, is unique among all cystidicolid...

First report of adults of Acanthocephaloides irregularis from cuttlefish Sepia officinalis (Cephalopoda) in Tunisia: SEM observations and molecular analysis

Souad Ben Jemaa, Halima Jmii Chine, Lamjed Mansour, Yann Quilichini, Sihem Bahri

Folia Parasitologica 73:003 (2026) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2026.003  

During a parasitological survey of the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis (Linnaeus) collected from the Bizerte Lagoon in northern Tunisia, adult acanthocephalans were found attached to the internal wall of cuttlefish stomach. The presence of adult acanthocephalans in cephalopods is unusual, given that definitive hosts for these obligate endoparasites are typically vertebrates. A detailed morphological examination of both sexes using light and scanning electron microscopy revealed high morphological similarities to Acanthocephaloides irregularis Amin, Oğuz, Heckmann, Tepe et Kvach, 2011. A partial sequence of 604 bp of the cytochrome...

Temporal dynamics of parasite community in the three-spot cichlid Amphilophus trimaculatus from Tres Palos Lagoon, Guerrero, Mexico

Juan Violante-González, Aldo Díaz-Gallegos, Yesenia Gallegos-Navarro, Princessa J. Villalba-Vásquez, Carlos Valencia-Cayetano, Jonatan Carbajal-Violante, Guadalupe Quiterio-Rendón

Folia Parasitologica 73:004 (2026) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2026.004  

The temporal dynamics of parasite communities of the Three-spot cichlid Amphilophus trimaculatus Günther 1867 was examined during an annual cycle. A total of 770 fishes were collected between March 2019 and February 2020 from a tropical costal lagoon. Thirteen taxa of metazoan parasites were identified, two of monoxenous and 11 of heteroxenous parasites. No significant changes were observed in the species composition of parasite communities in A. trimaculatus during a 12-yr period (2008-2020). The prevalence of infection of six heteroxenous parasites Austrodiplostomum ostrowskiae Dronen, 2009, Cladocystis cf. trifolium...

Huffmanela sp. eggs (Nematoda: Trichosomoididae), as a human spurious parasite in a child from Barcelona (Spain)

J. Gállego, C. Riera and M. Portús

Folia Parasitologica 40[3] 208-210 (1993)  

The life cycle of Haemogregarina bigemina (Adeleina: Haemogregarinidae) in South African hosts

Angela J. Davies, Nico J. Smit

Folia Parasitologica 48[3] 169-177 (2001) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2001.029  

Haemogregarina bigemina Laveran et Mesnil, 1901 was examined in marine fishes and the gnathiid isopod, Gnathia africana Barnard, 1914 in South Africa. Its development in fishes was similar to that described previously for this species. Gnathiids taken from fishes with H. bigemina, and prepared sequentially over 28 days post feeding (d.p.f.), contained stages of syzygy, immature and mature oocysts, sporozoites and merozoites of at least three types. Sporozoites, often five in number, formed from each oocyst from 9 d.p.f. First-generation merozoites appeared in small numbers at 11 d.p.f., arising from small, rounded meronts. Mature,...

Gnathia pantherina sp. n. (Crustacea: Isopoda: Gnathiidae), a temporary ectoparasite of some elasmobranch species from southern Africa

Nico J. Smit, Linda Basson

Folia Parasitologica 49[2] 137-151 (2002) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2002.025  

Haematophagous larvae of a gnathiid isopod were collected from the gills, nares and buccal cavity of a single leopard catshark Poroderma pantherinum (Smith, 1838) at Jeffreys Bay and five puffadder shysharks Haploblepharus edwardsii (Voight, 1832) and one blackspotted electric ray Torpedo fuscomaculata Peters, 1855, at the De Hoop Nature Reserve on the South African south coast. Larvae were kept in fresh seawater until their moult into adult stages. The morphology of the adult males did not conform to that of any known species and they are therefore described as Gnathia pantherina sp. n. The descriptions of the adult male,...

Observations on the metazoan parasites of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) after its reintroduction into the Elbe River basin in the Czech Republic

František Moravec

Folia Parasitologica 50[4] 298-304 (2003) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2003.049  

In the years 1999-2002, first studies were carried out on the metazoan parasites of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) recently reintroduced into the Elbe River drainage system, after more than 50 years after the complete extinction of the Elbe salmon population. A total of six helminth species were recorded from salmon smolts from three streams of the Elbe River basin (Kamenice River, Ještědský and Libočanský Brooks) in North Bohemia, Czech Republic, where S. salar fingerlings have been released since 1998: Gyrodactylus truttae Gläser, 1974, Crepidostomum metoecus Braun, 1900, Diplostomum spathaceum (Rudolphi, 1819)...

How do microsporidia invade cells?

Caspar Franzen

Folia Parasitologica 52[1/2] 36-40 (2005) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2005.005  

Microsporidia are obligate intracellular eukaryotic parasites that utilize a unique mechanism to infect host cells. One of the main characteristics of all microsporidia is that they produce spores containing an extrusion apparatus that consists of a coiled polar tube ending in an anchoring disc at the apical part of the spore. With appropriate conditions inside a suitable host, the polar tube is discharged through the thin anterior end of the spore, thereby penetrating a new host cell for inoculating the infective sporoplasm into the new host cell. This method of invading new host cells is one of the most sophisticated infection mechanisms in biology...

Molecular phylogeny of the Microsporidia: ecological, ultrastructural and taxonomic considerations

Charles R. Vossbrinck, Bettina A. Debrunner-Vossbrinck

Folia Parasitologica 52[1/2] 131-142 (2005) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2005.017  

The Microsporidia are a group of obligate intracellular parasites, now thought to be derived fungi. Presented here is a comparative small subunit rDNA (ssrDNA) analysis of 125 species of Microsporidia (sequences obtained from GenBank). This analysis shows that groups or clades are formed based largely on habitat and host. This result is supported by comparative molecular analyses of the past decade, and indicates that structural and ultrastructural characters are unreliable for distinguishing among higher-level microsporidian taxa. Our findings indicate the presence of five major clades of Microsporidia which group according to habitat. We present...

The first finding of myxosporean development from plasmodia to spores in terrestrial mammals: Soricimyxum fegati gen. et sp. n. (Myxozoa) from Sorex araneus (Soricomorpha)

Carol-Constantin Prunescu, Paula Prunescu, Zdzislaw Pucek, Jiří Lom

Folia Parasitologica 54[3] 159-164 (2007) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2007.022  

Soricimyxum fegati gen. et sp. n. is a new myxosporean (Myxozoa) species discovered in the liver of shrews, Sorex araneus L., collected in the Bialowieza primeval forest (Poland). Both developmental stages and mature spores were found during a histological study. The infection had about 40% prevalence at the investigated locality. Plasmodia were polysporic. Elongated plasmodia with an average size of 30 by 8 µm occupied bile ducts and larger rounded plasmodia up to 80 µm in diameter were found in liver parenchyma where they most probably entered after the ducts had been destructed. Plasmodia in both locations elicited a vigorous...

Response of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in skin and fin tissue during infection with a variant of Gyrodactylus salaris (Monogenea: Gyrodactylidae)

Thomas R. Jørgensen, Martin K. Raida, Per W. Kania, Kurt Buchmann

Folia Parasitologica 56[4] 251-258 (2009) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2009.029  

Response mechanisms of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), experimentally infected with a Danish strain of Gyrodactylus salaris Malmberg, 1957 were investigated using molecular tools (qPCR) and immunohistochemistry. Expression of ten immune-relevant genes and reactivity with five different antibodies in the epidermis of skin and fin tissue were analysed in susceptible but responding rainbow trout. Rainbow trout were susceptible with regard to the parasite strain which initially colonised fins but relocated to the body region as infection progressed. The ten investigated genes encoding the cytokines IL-1β, TNF-α, IFN-γ,...

Helminth parasites of Artemia franciscana (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) in the Great Salt Lake, Utah: first data from the native range of this invader of European wetlands

Stella Redón, Nicole J. Berthelemy, Yasen Mutafchiev, Francisco Amat, Boyko B. Georgiev, Gergana P. Vasileva

Folia Parasitologica 62[1] 30 (2015) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2015.030  

The present study is the first survey on the role of Artemia franciscana Kellogg as intermediate host of helminth parasites in its native geographical range in North America (previous studies have recorded nine cestode and one nematode species from this host in its invasive habitats in the Western Mediterranean). Samples of Artemia franciscana were collected from four sites in the Great Salt Lake (GSL), Utah, across several months (June-September 2009). A. franciscana serves as intermediate host of five helminth species in this lake. Four of them are cestodes: three hymenolepidids, i.e. Confluaria podicipina (Szymanski,...

Morphological and molecular data for three species of the Microphallidae (Trematoda: Digenea) in Australia, including the first descriptions of the cercariae of Maritrema brevisacciferum Shimazu et Pearson, 1991 and Microphallus minutus Johnston, 1948

Olena Kudlai, Scott C. Cutmore, Thomas H. Cribb

Folia Parasitologica 62[1] (2015) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2015.053  

Cercariae and metacercariae of three species of the Microphallidae Travassos, 1920 were found in snails and crustaceans from tributaries of the Brisbane River, Queensland, Australia. Specimens of Maritrema brevisacciferum Shimazu et Pearson, 1991 and Microphallus minutus Johnston, 1948, which have previously been reported in Queensland, were found as cercariae in the tateid gastropod Posticobia brazieri (Smith) and as metacercariae of M. brevisacciferum in the atyid shrimp Caridina indistincta Calman and of M. minutus in the parastacid crayfish Cherax dispar Reik. Combined...

Self-sustaining infrapopulation or colony? Redial clonal groups of Himasthla elongata (Mehlis, 1831) (Trematoda: Echinostomatidae) in Littorina littorea (Linnaeus) (Gastropoda: Littorinidae) do not support the concept of eusocial colonies in trematodes

Kirill V. Galaktionov, Irina M. Podvyaznaya, Kirill E. Nikolaev, Ivan A. Levakin

Folia Parasitologica 62[1] (2015) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2015.067  

Trematode sporocysts and rediae reproduce by parthenogenesis, forming clonal groups in the molluscan host. It has recently become popular to consider these groups as eusocial colonies, with division of labour between rediae morphs: small 'soldiers' incapable of reproduction defend the colony, while large rediae reproduce. Alternatively, clonal groups can be considered as self-sustaining infrapopulations. We tested these two hypotheses in the light of new data on rediae of Himasthla elongata (Mehlis, 1831) from snails Littorina littorea (Linnaeus) concerning ultrastructure, growth character and composition of their groups. Clonal groups...

Serological diagnosis of cystic echinococcosis in cattle

Aitbay K. Bulashev, Zhanbolat A. Suranshiev, Orken S. Akibekov, Zhanara Zh. Akanova, Gulmira A. Abulgazimova

Folia Parasitologica 64:005 (2017) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2017.005  

An IgM murine monoclonal antibody (MAb) was obtained against the excretory-secretory antigen (ES-Ag) of in vitro reared protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus (Batsch, 1786). Western blotting revealed that the MAb recognised a 20.6 kDa protein of this ES-Ag. The MAb was used in sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (s-ELISA) for selective sensitisation of the solid phase with the protoscolex-specific protein from its ES-Ag and somatic antigen (S-Ag) to examine serum samples of 108 cows from a cystic echinococcosis (CE) endemic area for specific antibodies and to compare the results with those from necropsies and an indirect ELISA...

Revised classification of the subfamily Leishmaniinae (Trypanosomatidae)

Alexei Y. Kostygov, Vyacheslav Yurchenko

Folia Parasitologica 64:020 (2017) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2017.020  

In the present study, we critically revised the recently proposed classification of the subfamily Leishmaniinae Maslov et Lukeš in Jirků et al., 2012. Agreeing with erection of the genus Zelonia Shaw, Camargo et Teixeira in Espinosa et al., 2017 and the subgenus Mundinia Shaw, Camargo et Teixeira in Espinosa et al., 2017 within the genus Leishmania Ross, 1908, we argue that other changes are not well justified. We propose to: (i) raise Paraleishmania Cupolillo, Medina-Acosta, Noyes, Momen et Grimaldi, 2000 to generic rank; (ii) create a new genus Borovskyia gen. n. to accommodate the former Leptomonas barvae...

Castosyringophilus meropis sp. n. (Acariformes: Syringophilidae) - a new quill mite species parasitising the world population of Merops apiaster Linnaeus (Coraciiformes: Meropidae)

Maciej Skoracki, Martin Hromada, Bozena Sikora

Folia Parasitologica 64:024 (2017) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2017.024  

A new species, Castosyringophilus meropis sp. n., found in quills of feathers of the European bee-eater Merops apiaster Linnaeus (Coraciiformes: Meropidae) is described. This new species is close to C. claravis Skoracki et Glowska, 2008 and differs, in females, by the presence apunctate coxal fields (vs sparsely punctate in C. claravis) and by the lengths of setae d1 145-180 µm, f2 170-185 µm and ag3 190-215 µm (vs d1 200-220 µm, f2 230-250 µm and ag3 150-170 µm). We present a vast mite material collected from bee-eaters originated...

Scolex morphology of monozoic tapeworms (Caryophyllidea) from the Nearctic Region: taxonomic and evolutionary implications

Mikuláš Oros, Dalibor Uhrovič, Anindo Choudhury, John S. Mackiewicz, Tomáš Scholz

Folia Parasitologica 67:003 (2020) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2020.003  

A comparative study of the scoleces of monozoic tapeworms (Cestoda: Caryophyllidea), parasites of catostomid and cyprinid fishes (Teleostei: Cypriniformes) in the Nearctic Region, was carried out using light and scanning electron microscopy. Scoleces of 22 genera of North American caryophyllideans were characterised and their importance for taxonomy, classification and phylogenetic studies was critically reviewed. Nearctic genera exhibit a much higher variation in the shape and form of scoleces compared with taxa in other biogeographical regions. The following basic scolex types can be recognised in Nearctic caryophyllideans: monobothriate (Promonobothrium...

Canine thelaziosis in the Czech Republic: the northernmost autochthonous occurrence of the eye nematode Thelazia callipaeda Railliet et Henry, 1910 in Europe

Milan Jirků, Roman Kuchta, Elena Gricaj, David Modrý, Kateřina Jirků Pomajbíková

Folia Parasitologica 67:010 (2020) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2020.010  

The eye nematode Thelazia callipaeda Railliet et Henry, 1910 (Spirurida: Thelaziidae) is a vector-borne zoonotic nematode infecting a range of wild and domestic carnivores as well as humans. It is considered to be a causative agent of emerging and neglected disease and currently invades central part of Europe. Nematodes were collected from the eye of a dog living in Prague, which never travelled outside the Czech Republic. The nematodes were identified based on their morphology and partial sequence of the cox1 gene as T. callipaeda haplotype 1. This finding represents the northernmost record of autochthonous canine thelaziosis...

Myxozoan hidden diversity: the case of Myxobolus pseudodispar Gorbunova, 1936

Martina Lisnerová, Petr Blabolil, Astrid Holzer, Pavel Jurajda, Ivan Fiala

Folia Parasitologica 67:019 (2020) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2020.019  

Myxobolus pseudodispar Gorbunova, 1936 (Myxozoa) was originally described as a parasite of common roach, Rutilus rutilus (Linnaeus), with developing stages in muscles and spores disseminated in macrophage centres of different organs and tissues. Later, this parasite was described from several other cyprinids, but with relatively large intraspecific differences based on SSU rDNA gene sequences. Within our long-term study on myxozoan biodiversity, we performed a broad microscopic and molecular screening of various freshwater fish species (over 450 specimens, 36 species) from different localities. We investigated the cryptic species status...

Interannual and spatial variation in the parasite communities of Pacific sierra Scomberomorus sierra (Jordan et Starks) on Mexico's Pacific coast

Nataly G. Santos-Bustos, Juan Violante-González, Scott Monks, Princessa J. Villalba-Vásquez, Shirley S. Salas Villalobos, Monserrat S. Acosta-Hernández, Aldo Diaz Gallegos

Folia Parasitologica 67:029 (2020) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2020.029  

The parasite communities of predatory fish can be species rich and diverse, making them effective models for studying the factors influencing temporal and spatial variation in these communities. Over a ten-year period an initial study was done on the metazoan parasite communities of Scomberomorus sierra (Jordan et Starks) from four locations on the south-central Pacific coast of Mexico. Twenty-four metazoan parasite taxa were identified from 674 S. sierra specimens: three species of Monogenea, eight Digenea, one Cestoda, one Acanthocephala, four Nematoda, five Copepoda, and two Isopoda. The parasite communities were characterised by high...

Stomatocystis goerresi, a new species of gregarine parasite (Apicomplexa, Monocystidae) from the invasive Japanese earthworm Amynthas tokioensis (Megascolecidae), with a description of the parasite's life cycle

Joseph J. Schall

Folia Parasitologica 68:022 (2021) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2021.022  

Stomatocystis goerresi sp. n., a gregarine (phylum Apicomplexa, Monocystidae) parasite of an important invasive earthworm in North America, Amynthas tokioensis (Beddard), is described. This is the second species placed into the genus, and details of its morphology and life cycle support Stomatocystis Bandyopadhyay, Mitra et Göçmen, 2006 as a valid taxon. The new species is described using standard nomenclature, measurements, shape descriptors, and photographs of living cells. The parasite was found only in A. tokioensis, and absent in sympatric earthworm species, suggesting it arrived when the earthworms were introduced...

Trichinellosis in Serbia has become a rare event - one outbreak with pulmonary complications

Ivana Mitic, Sasa Vasilev, Milos Korac, Natasa Ilic, Biljana Bojic, Alisa Gruden-Movsesijan, Ljiljana Sofronic-Milosavljevic

Folia Parasitologica 69:009 (2022) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2022.009  

An outbreak of trichinellosis occurred in Stari Banovci, a settlement in the municipality of Stara Pazova, Srem, Republic of Serbia, in March-April 2019. A total of 28 persons were exposed and trichinellosis was confirmed in 24 of them. This outbreak involved members of eight families, their relatives and friends. The infection, due to Trichinella spiralis (Owen, 1835), was associated with consumption of pork sausages procured in a local butcher's shop. The trace-back study revealed that the meat originated from swine that was raised on a small farm belonging to the owner of the shop, who did not have permission from the Veterinary Directorate...

Description of Ichthyascaris grandis sp. n., redescription of Raphidascaroides halieutaeae Yin, 1983 and new records of some other raphidascaridid and philometrid nematodes from marine fishes off Java, Indonesia

František Moravec, Thorsten Walter, Asri Trisnani Yuniar

Folia Parasitologica 69:016 (2022) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2022.016  

Examinations of nematodes collected from some marine fishes off the southwestern coast of Java, Indonesia in 2000 and 2001 revealed the presence of the following six species: ascaridoids Ichthyascaris grandis sp. n. from the intestine of Lophiomus setigerus (Vahl), I. cf. longispicula Li, Liu, Liu et Zhang, 2012 from the intestine of Conger cinereus Rüppel, Ichthyascaris sp. from the body cavity of Lobotes surinamensis (Bloch), and Raphidascaroides halieutaeae Yin, 1983 from the intestine of Halieutaea stellata (Vahl), and philometrids Philometra ivaschkini Parukhin, 1976...

Different hosts in different lakes: prevalence and population genetic structure of plerocercoids of Ligula intestinalis (Cestoda) in Czech water bodies

Masoud Nazarizadeh, Jiří Peterka, Jan Kubečka, Mojmír Vašek, Tomáš Jůza, Karlos Ribeiro de Moraes, Martin Čech, Michaela Holubová, Allan T. Souza, Petr Blabolil, Milan Muška, Lobsang Tsering, Daniel Bartoň, Milan Říha, Marek Šmejkal, Michal Tušer, Lukáš Vejřík, Jaroslava Frouzová, Ivan Jarić, Marie Prchalová, Ivana Vejříková, Jan Štefka

Folia Parasitologica 69:018 (2022) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2022.018  

Ligula intestinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) is a tapeworm parasite with a worldwide distribution that uses a wide variety of fish species as its second intermediate host. In the present study, we investigated the prevalence and population genetic structure of plerocercoids of L. intestinalis in five common cyprinoid species, roach Rutilus rutilus (Linnaeus), freshwater bream Abramis brama (Linnaeus), white bream Blicca bjoerkna (Linnaeus), bleak Alburnus alburnus (Linnaeus), and rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus), collected in six water bodies of the Czech Republic (Milada, Most, Medard, Jordán, Římov...

Secretion of extracellular vesicles during ontogeny of the tapeworm Schistocephalus solidus

Hynek Mazanec, Nikol Bušková, Zdenko Gardian, Roman Kuchta

Folia Parasitologica 70:003 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.003  

We provide the first ultrastructural evidence of the secretion of extracellular vesicles (EVs) across all parasitic stages of the tapeworm Schistocephalus solidus (Müller, 1776) (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidea) using a laboratory life cycle model. We confirmed the presence of EV-like bodies in all stages examined, including the hexacanth, procercoids in the copepod, Macrocyclops albidus (Jurine, 1820), plerocercoids from the body cavity of the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, and adults cultivated in artificial medium. In addition, we provide description of novel tegumental structures potentially involved...