Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T04:42:26.663Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Distribution of Eurasian otter biliary parasites, Pseudamphistomum truncatum and Metorchis albidus (Family Opisthorchiidae), in England and Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2009

E. SHERRARD-SMITH ,
J. CABLE  and
E. A. CHADWICK
E. SHERRARD-SMITH*
Affiliation:
School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
J. CABLE
Affiliation:
School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
E. A. CHADWICK
Affiliation:
School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
*
*Corresponding author: School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK. Tel: +44(0)29 20874046. Fax: +44 (0)29 20874116. E-mail: sherrardsmithE@cardiff.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Gall bladders from 273 otter carcasses, collected throughout England and Wales, were screened to assess the status of gall bladder parasites in the Eurasian otter, Lutra lutra. The digenean Pseudamphistomum truncatum had previously been found in UK otters collected between 2000 and 2007. The parasite was established in Somerset and Dorset but its distribution elsewhere in the UK was largely unknown. In the current study, P. truncatum was also found to be abundant in south Wales, with occasional cases elsewhere, but appears to be absent from the north of England. Overall, 11·7% of otters were infected with 1–238 P. truncatum. A second digenean, Metorchis albidus, previously unreported in British otters, was found in the biliary system of 6·6% of otters. M. albidus appears well established in Suffolk, Norfolk and north Essex but was recorded elsewhere rarely. Both parasites are associated with pathological damage to the otter gall bladder. The recent discovery of these two non-native parasites provides a unique opportunity to assess their impact on native British fauna.

Keywords

OpisthorchiidPseudamphistomum truncatumMetorchis albidusLutra lutraUK
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 136 , Issue 9 , August 2009 , pp. 1015 - 1022
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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

Bakke, T. A., Cable, J. and Harris, P. D. (2007). The biology of Gyrodactylid Monogeneans: the “Russian-Doll Killers”. Advances in Parasitology 64, 161–376. doi:10.1016/S0065-308X(06)64003-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beyer, K., Kochanowska, D., Longshaw, M., Feist, S. W. and Gozlan, R. E. (2005). A potential role for invasive sunbleak in the further dissemination of a non-native parasite. Journal of Fish Biology 67, 1730–1733. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2005.00859.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowman, D. D., Hendrix, C. M., Lindsey, D. S. and Barr, S. C. (2002). Feline Clinical Parasitology. Blackwell Publishing, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradshaw, A. V. (1999). Aspects of otter Lutra lutra mortality in England and Wales. Ph.D. thesis Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.Google Scholar
Chadwick, E. A. (2007). Post-mortem Study of Otters in England and Wales 1992–2003. Environment Agency Science Report, UK.Google Scholar
Chandler, A. C. and Read, C. P. (1961). Introduction to Parasitology. 10th Edn.John Wiley and Sons, New York, USA and London, UK.Google Scholar
Chanin, P. R. F. and Jefferies, D. J. (1978). Decline of otter Lutra lutra L. in Britain – Analysis of hunting records and discussion of causes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 10, 305–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Copp, G. H. and Roche, K. (2003). Range and diet of Eurasian otters Lutra lutra (L.) in the catchment of the River Lee (south-east England) since re-introduction. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 13, 65–76. doi: 10.1002/aqc.561CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gozlan, R. E., Flower, C. J. and Pinder, A. C. (2003). Reproductive success in male sunbleak, a recent invasive fish species in the UK. Journal of Fish Biology 63, 131–143. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2003.00210.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gozlan, R. E., St-Hilaire, S., Feist, S. W., Martin, P. and Kent, M. L. (2005). Biodiversity: disease threat to European fish. Nature, London 435, 1046. doi: 10.1038/4351046aCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joy, J. E. and Pennington, J. L. (1998). Ecology of Megalodiscus temperatus (Digenea: Paramphistomatidae) in red-spotted newts, Notophthalmus v. viridescens, from West Virginia. Journal of the Helminthological Society of Washington 65, 205–211.Google Scholar
Kennedy, C. R. (1993). Introductions, spread and colonization of new localities by fish helminth and crustacean parasites in the British Isles: a perspective and appraisal. Journal of Fish Biology 43, 287–301. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1993.tb00429.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirk, R. S. (2003). The impact of Anguillicola crassus on European eels. Fisheries Management and Ecology 10, 385–394. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2400.2003.00355.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kruuk, H. (2006). Otters: Ecology, Behaviour and Conservation. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, E. R., Tomlinson, A., Hunter, S., Nichols, T., Roberts, E., Fox, M. T. and Taylor, M. A. (2008). Angiostrongylus vasorum and Eucoleus aerophilus in foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Great Britain. Veterinary Parasitology 154, 48–57. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2008.02.030CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morley, N. J., Adam, M. E. and Lewis, J. W. (2004). The role of Bithynia tentaculata in the transmission of larval digeneans from a gravel pit in the Lower Thames Valley. Journal of Helminthology 78, 129–135. doi: 10.1079/JOH2003223CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Müller, B., Schmidt, J. and Mehlhorn, H. (2007). PCR diagnosis of infections with different species of Opisthorchiidae using a rapid clean-up procedure for stool samples and specific primers. Parasitology Research 100, 905–909. doi: 10.1007/s00436-006-0321-xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nielsen, J. C. L. and Guildal, J. A. (1974). Infestation with Metorchis albidus in a cat. Nordisk Veterinaer Medicin 26, 467.Google ScholarPubMed
R Development Core Team (2008). R: a Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0, URL http://www.R-project.orgGoogle Scholar
Ripley, B. D. A. (1988). Statistical Inference for Spatial Processes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saeed, I., Maddox-Hyttel, C., Monrad, J. and Kapel, C. M. O. (2006). Helminths of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Denmark. Veterinary Parasitology 139, 168–179. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2006.02.015CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sidorovich, V. and Anisimova, E. I. E. (1999). Comparative analysis of the helminthocenoses of the native semiaquatic mustelids (Lutra lutra, Mustela lutreola) in connection with the width of food spectra. IUCN Otter Specialist Group Bulletin 16, 76–78.Google Scholar
Sidorovich, V. E. (1997). Mustelids in Belarus: Evolutionary Ecology, Demography and Interspecific Relationships. Zolotoy Uley, Minsk, Belarus.Google Scholar
Simpson, V. R. (2007). Health Status of Otters in Southern and South West England 1996–2003. Environment Agency Science Report SC10064/SR1.Google Scholar
Simpson, V. R., Gibbons, L. M., Khalil, L. F. and Williams, J. L. R. (2005). Cholecystitis in otters (Lutra lutra) and mink (Mustela vison) caused by the fluke Pseudamphistomum truncatum. Veterinary Record 157, 49–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simpson, V. R., Tomlinson, A. J., and Molenaar, F. M. (2009). Prevalence, distribution and pathological significance of the bile fluke Pseudamphistomum truncatum in Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) in Great Britain. Veterinary Record 164, 397–401.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sripa, B. (2003). Pathobiology of opisthorchiasis: an update. Acta Tropica 88, 209–220. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2003.08.002CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sripa, B. and Kaewkes, S. (2000). Localisation of parasite antigens and inflammatory responses in experimental opisthorchiasis. International Journal for Parasitology 30, 735–740. doi: 10.1016/S0020-7519(00)00054-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sripa, B., Kaewkes, S., Sithithaworn, P., Mairiang, E., Laha, T., Smout, M., Pairojkul, C., Bhudhisawasdi, V., Tesana, S., Thinkamrop, B., Bethony, J. M., Loukas, A. and Brindley, P. J. (2007). Liver fluke induces cholangiocarcinoma. Public Library of Science Medicine 4, 1148–1155. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0040201Google ScholarPubMed
Sukhdeo, M. V. K. and Sukhdeo, S. C. (2004). Trematode behaviours and the perceptual world of parasites. Canadian Journal of Zoology-Revue Canadienne De Zoologie 82, 292–315. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2003.08.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodroffe, G. (1998). Reinforcing otter populations of the Derwent and Esk catchments in north Yorkshire. British Wildlife 9, 145–153.Google Scholar
Yamaguti, S. (1958). Systema Helminthum Vol 1: The Digenetic Trematodes of Vertebrates, Parts 1 and 2. Interscience Publishers, London, UK and New York, USA.Google Scholar