Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-75dct Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T17:37:10.926Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Parasitological survey of the edible cockle Cerastoderma edule (Bivalvia) on the south coast of Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2010

Jan Fermer ,
Sarah C. Culloty ,
Thomas C. Kelly  and
Ruth M. O'Riordan
Jan Fermer*
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland
Sarah C. Culloty
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland Aquaculture and Fisheries Development Centre, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland
Thomas C. Kelly
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland
Ruth M. O'Riordan
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: J. Fermer, Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland email: j.fermer@mars.ucc.ie
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The edible cockle Cerastoderma edule is one of the most common soft sediment bivalves in Europe and of commercial relevance in some areas of its range. Information on the parasite fauna of cockles is available from several North Sea and Atlantic shore locations. However, little is known from the British Isles in this context. This study provides an inventory of the macroparasites of C. edule sampled from fourteen localities along the south coast of Ireland. Altogether, we identified ten taxa of macroparasites belonging to three major groups. The majority of them were digenean trematodes using cockles as second intermediate host. Infection rates and levels were comparatively low, with the exception of the gymnophallid Meiogymnophallus minutus, which was found to be prevalent at all sampling sites and often very abundant. Whilst parasite species composition in Irish cockles was similar to the one found in conspecifics from northern Europe, it showed distinct differences from the macroparasite fauna reported from C. edule collected in southern Europe and northern Africa.

Keywords

Cerastoderma eduleparasite faunadigenean trematodesMeiogymnophallus minutus
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 91 , Issue 4 , June 2011 , pp. 923 - 928
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bowers, E.A. (1969) Cercaria bucephalopsis haimeana (Lacaze-Duthiers, 1854) (Digenea: Bucephalidae) in the cockle, Cardium edule L. in South Wales. Journal of Natural History 3, 409–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowers, E.A., Bartoli, P. and James, B.L. (1990) A demonstration of allopatric sibling species within the Gymnophallidae (Digenea). Systematic Parasitology 17, 143–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowers, E.A., Bartoli, P., Russell-Pinto, F. and James, B.L. (1996) The metacercariae of sibling species of Meiogymnophallus, including M. rebecqui comb. nov. (Digenea: Gymnophallidae), and their effects on closely related Cerastoderma host species (Mollusca: Bivalvia). Parasitology Research 82, 505–510.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowers, E.A. and James, B.L. (1967) Studies on the morphology, ecology and life-cycle of Meiogymnophallus minutus (Cobbold, 1859) comb. nov. (Trematoda: Gymnophallidae). Parasitology 57, 281–300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bush, A.O., Lafferty, K.D., Lotz, J.M. and Shostak, A.W. (1997) Parasitology meets ecology on its own terms: Margolis et al. revisited. Journal of Parasitology 83, 575–583.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Desclaux, C., Russell-Pinto, F., de Montaudouin, X. and Bachelet, G. (2006) First record and description of metacercariae of Curtuteria arguinae n. sp. (Digenea: Echinostomatidae), parasite of cockles Cerastoderma edule (Mollusca: Bivalvia) in Arcachon Bay, France. Journal of Parasitology 92, 578–587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faliex, E. and Morand, S. (1994) Population dynamics of the metacercarial stage of the bucephalid trematode, Labratrema minimus (Stossich, 1887) from Salses-Leucate lagoon (France) during the cercarial shedding period. Journal of Helminthology 68, 35–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fermer, J., Culloty, S.C., Kelly, T.C. and O'Riordan, R.M. (2009) Intrapopulational distribution of Meiogymnophallus minutus (Digenea, Gymnophallidae) infections in its first and second intermediate host. Parasitology Research 105, 1231–1238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frank, B. (1969) Der bemerkenswerte Lebenszyklus des marinen Vogeltrematoden Gymnophallus choledochus. Journal für Ornithologie 110, 471–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fredensborg, B.L., Mouritsen, K.N. and Poulin, R. (2006) Relating bird host distribution and spatial heterogeneity in trematode infections in an intertidal snail—from small to large scale. Marine Biology 149, 275–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gam, M., Bazaїri, H., Jensen, K.T. and de Montaudouin, X. (2008) Metazoan parasites in an intermediate host population near its southern border: the common cockle (Cerastoderma edule) and its trematodes in a Moroccan coastal lagoon (Merja Zerga). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 88, 357–364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goater, C.P. (1993) Population biology of Meiogymnophallus minutus (Trematoda: Gymnophallidae) in cockles from the Exe Estuary. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 73, 163–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hechinger, R.F. and Lafferty, K.D. (2005) Host diversity begets parasite diversity: bird final hosts and trematodes in snail intermediate hosts. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 272, 1059–1066.Google ScholarPubMed
Jensen, K.T., Castro, N.F. and Bachelet, G. (1999) Infectivity of Himasthla spp. (Trematoda) in cockle (Cerastoderma edule) spat. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 79, 265–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonsson, P.R. and André, C. (1992) Mass mortality of the bivalve Cerastoderma edule on the Swedish west coast caused by infestation with the digenean trematode Cercaria cerastodermae I. Ophelia 36, 151–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lassalle, G., de Montaudouin, X., Soudant, P. and Paillard, C. (2007) Parasite co-infection of two sympatric bivalves, the Manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) and the cockle (Cerastoderma edule) along a latitudinal gradient. Aquatic Living Resources 20, 33–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lauckner, G. (1971) Zur Trematodenfauna der Herzmuscheln Cardium edule und Cardium lamarcki. Helgoländer Wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen 22, 377–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lauckner, G. (1983) Diseases of Mollusca: Bivalvia. In Kinne, O. (ed.) Diseases of marine animals. Hamburg: Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, pp. 477–961.Google Scholar
Loos-Frank, B. (1967) Experimentelle Untersuchungen über Bau, Entwicklung und Systematik der Himasthlinae (Trematoda, Echinostomatidae) des Nordseeraumes. Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde 28, 299–351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loos-Frank, B. (1968) Der Entwicklungszyklus von Psilostomum brevicolle (Creplin, 1829) [Syn.: P. platyurum (Mühling, 1896)] (Trematoda, Psilostomatidae). Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde 31, 122–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malek, M. (2001) Effects of the digenean parasites Labratrema minimus and Cryptocotyle concavum on the growth parameters of Pomatoschistus microps and P. minutus from Southwest Wales. Parasitology Research 87, 349–355.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCallum, H.I., Kuris, A., Harvell, C.D., Lafferty, K.D., Smith, G.W. and Porter, J. (2004) Does terrestrial epidemiology apply to marine systems? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19, 585–591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Montaudouin, X., Kisielewski, I., Bachelet, G. and Desclaux, C. (2000) A census of macroparasites in an intertidal bivalve community, Arcachon Bay, France. Oceanologica Acta 23, 453–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Montaudouin, X., Thieltges, D.W., Gam, M., Krakau, M., Pina, S., Bazaїri, H., Dabouineau, L., Russell-Pinto, F. and Jensen, K.T. (2009) Digenean trematode species in the cockle Cerastoderma edule: identification key and distribution along the north-eastern Atlantic shoreline. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 89, 543–556.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Montaudouin, X., Wegeberg, A.M., Jensen, K.T. and Sauriau, P.G. (1998) Infection characteristics of Himasthla elongata cercariae in cockles as a function of water current. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 34, 63–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mouritsen, K.N., McKechnie, S., Meenken, E., Toynbee, J.L. and Poulin, R. (2003) Spatial heterogeneity in parasite loads in the New Zealand cockle: the importance of host condition and density. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 83, 307–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mouritsen, K.N. and Poulin, R. (2002) Parasitism, community structure and biodiversity in intertidal ecosystems. Parasitology 124, S101–S117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nairn, R. (2005) Ireland's coastline: exploring its nature and heritage. Cork: Collins Press.Google Scholar
Russell-Pinto, F. (1990) Differences in infestation intensity and prevalence of hinge and mantle margin Meiogymnophallus minutus metacercariae (Gymnophallidae) in Cerastoderma edule (Bivalvia): possible species coexistence in Ria de Aveiro. Journal of Parasitology 76, 653–659.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell-Pinto, F. and Bartoli, P. (1992) Sympatric distribution of Meiogymnophallus minutus and M. fossarum (Digenea: Gymnophallidae) in Cerastoderma edule in the Ria de Aveiro estuary in Portugal. Parasitology Research 78, 617–618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell-Pinto, F., Gonçalves, J.F. and Bowers, E. (2006) Digenean larvae parasitizing Cerastoderma edule (Bivalvia) and Nassarius reticulatus (Gastropoda) from Ria de Aveiro, Portugal. Journal of Parasitology 92, 319–332.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sannia, A. and James, B.L. (1978) The occurrence of Cercaria cerastodermae I Sannia, James, and Bowers, 1978 (Digenea: Monorchiidae) in populations of Cerastoderma edule (L.) from the commercial beds of the Lower Thames Estuary. Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde 56, 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sousa, W.P. (1991) Can models of soft-sediment community structure be complete without parasites? American Zoologist 31, 821–830.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thieltges, D.W. (2008) Effect of host size and temporal exposure on metacercarial infection levels in the intertidal cockle Cerastoderma edule. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 88, 613–616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thieltges, D.W., Hussel, B., Hermann, J., Jensen, K.T., Krakau, M., Taraschewski, H. and Reise, K. (2008) Parasites in the northern Wadden Sea: a conservative ecosystem component over 4 decades. Helgoland Marine Research 62, 37–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thieltges, D.W., Krakau, M., Andresen, H., Fottner, S. and Reise, K. (2006) Macroparasite community in molluscs of a tidal basin in the Wadden Sea. Helgoland Marine Research 60, 307–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thieltges, D.W. and Reise, K. (2007) Spatial heterogeneity in parasite infections at different spatial scales in an intertidal bivalve. Oecologia 150, 569–581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Werding, B. (1969) Morphologie, Entwicklung und Ökologie digener Trematoden-Larven der Strandschnecke Littorina littorea. Marine Biology 3, 306–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar