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Title: BIONOMICS OF LARVAE OF PARELAPHOSTRONGYLUS ODOCOILEI (NEMATODA: PROTOSTRONGYLIDAE) IN EXPERIMENTALLY-INFECTED GASTROPOD INTERMEDIATE HOSTS

Author
item JENKINS, E - SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA
item KUTZ, S - SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA
item Hoberg, Eric
item POLLEY, L - SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA

Submitted to: Journal of Parasitology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/5/2005
Publication Date: 1/20/2006
Citation: Jenkins, E.L., Kutz, S.J., Hoberg, E.P., Polley, L. 2006. Bionomics of larvae of parelaphostrongylus odocoilei (nematoda: protostrongylidae) in experimentally-infected gastropod intermediate hosts. Journal of Parasitology 92:298-305.

Interpretive Summary: Protostrongylid nematodes are important pathogens in domestic and wild ungulates in North America and globally. Understanding the potential for disease outbreaks attributable to these parasites requires information about patterns of life history and development of parasitic stages in either the ungulate final host or in gastropods intermediate hosts. Parelaphostrongylus odocoilei is a protostrongylid parasite that has recently been recognized in a new definitive host, thinhorn sheep (Ovis dalli) at Subarctic latitudes in North America. In the laboratory, we investigated factors affecting larval ecology (patterns of development, emergence, growth, and survival) of P. odocoilei of thinhorn sheep origin in its intermediate host, including 2 gastropod species that are potentially important in natural transmission, the slug Deroceras laeve and the snail Catinella sp. Temperature (8-24 C) strongly influenced development of larvae of P. odocoilei in D. laeve, and intermediate host species and intensity of infection influenced both larval growth and the proportion of larvae that emerged from gastropods. Both pre-infective and infective larvae emerged, but only infective larvae survived outside the gastropod intermediate host. Combining knowledge of the factors influencing larval ecology in the laboratory with knowledge of biotic and abiotic factors in the field environment provides the foundation for predicting temporal and spatial patterns of parasite distribution and abundance.

Technical Abstract: Parelaphostrongylus odocoilei is a protostrongylid parasite that has recently been recognized in a new definitive host, thinhorn sheep (Ovis dalli) at Subarctic latitudes in North America. In the laboratory, we investigated factors affecting larval ecology (patterns of development, emergence, growth, and survival) of P. odocoilei of thinhorn sheep origin in its intermediate host, including 2 gastropod species that are potentially important in natural transmission, the slug Deroceras laeve and the snail Catinella sp. Temperature (8-24 C) strongly influenced development of larvae of P. odocoilei in D. laeve, and intermediate host species and intensity of infection influenced both larval growth and the proportion of larvae that emerged from gastropods. Both pre-infective and infective larvae emerged, but only infective larvae survived outside the gastropod intermediate host. Combining knowledge of the factors influencing larval ecology in the laboratory with knowledge of biotic and abiotic factors in the field provides the foundation for predicting temporal and spatial patterns of parasite distribution and abundance.