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Occurrence and abundance of anisakid nematode larvae in five species of fish from southern Australian waters

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to conduct, in southern Australian waters, a preliminary epidemiological survey of five commercially significant species of fish (yellow-eye mullet, tiger flathead, sand flathead, pilchard and king fish) for infections with anisakid nematodes larvae using a combined morphological–molecular approach. With the exception of king fish, which was farmed and fed commercial pellets, all other species were infected with at least one species of anisakid nematode, with each individual tiger flathead examined being infected. Five morphotypes, including Anisakis, Contracaecum type I and II and Hysterothylacium type IV and VIII, were defined genetically using mutation scanning and targeted sequencing of the second internal transcribed spacer of nuclear ribosomal DNA. The findings of the present study provide a basis for future investigations of the genetic composition of anisakid populations in a wide range of fish hosts in Australia and for assessing their public health significance.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS), Australia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Stuart University, Wagga Wagga, Australia

    Shokoofeh Shamsi

  2. Department of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, 250 Princes Highway, Werribee, VIC, 3030, Australia

    Ian Beveridge & Robin B. Gasser

  3. School of Applied Science, RMIT University, Plenty Road, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia

    Albert Eisenbarth, Shruti Saptarshi & Andreas L. Lopata

Authors
  1. Shokoofeh Shamsi
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  2. Albert Eisenbarth
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  3. Shruti Saptarshi
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  4. Ian Beveridge
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  5. Robin B. Gasser
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  6. Andreas L. Lopata
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas L. Lopata.

Additional information

Nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper are available in the GenBank database under the accession numbers FN556176 to FN556182.

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Shamsi, S., Eisenbarth, A., Saptarshi, S. et al. Occurrence and abundance of anisakid nematode larvae in five species of fish from southern Australian waters. Parasitol Res 108, 927–934 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-010-2134-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-010-2134-1

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