Abstract
A wild-caught captive sandbar shark Carcharhinus plumbeus developed a contiguous network of darkly pigmented linear tracks that progressed from the snout to the ventral cervical region. Microscopic examination of a skin scraping revealed nematode eggs of the genus Huffmanela, a group of histozoic nematodes that is known to parasitize requiem sharks and marine and freshwater teleosts. The fresh eggs were darkly pigmented with bipolar plugs, contained a larva, and measured 73.3 to 86.4 by 39.0 to 47.4 μm (n = 10). Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded eggs were significantly smaller (Wilcoxon rank sums test, p < 0.005), measuring 70.5 to 78.9 by 33.6 to 41.3 μm (n = 13). These measurements do not correlate with previously reported species of Huffmanela. Serial treatment with levamisole (10 mg kg-1, intramuscular [i.m.]) cleared the egg tracks within 21 d, with no recurrence or apparent complications.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 83-88 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Diseases of Aquatic Organisms |
Volume | 73 |
Issue number | 1 |
State | Published - Nov 21 2006 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Carcharhinus plumbeus
- Elasmobranchii
- Huffmanela
- Levamisole
- Parasitic nematode
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aquatic Science
- Ecology