Parasitology Research

, Volume 114, Issue 9, pp 3521–3524 | Cite as

The invasive fish tapeworm Atractolytocestus huronensis (Cestoda), a parasite of carp, colonises Africa

  • Tomáš Scholz
  • Sareh Tavakol
  • Ali Halajian
  • Wilmien J. Luus-Powell
Short Communication
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Biological invasions represent a serious threat for aquaculture because many of introduced parasites may negatively affect the health state of feral and cultured fish. In the present account, the invasive tapeworm Atractolytocestus huronensis Anthony, 1958 (Cestoda: Caryophyllidea), which was originally described from North America and has been introduced to Europe including the British Isles with its specific host, common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.), is reported from Africa for the first time. Its recent introduction to South Africa, where it was found in four localities where common carp is cultured, is another evidence of insufficient prophylactic measures and inadequate veterinary control during transfers of cultured fish, especially common carp, between continents. Together with the Asian fish tapeworm, Bothriocephalus acheilognathi, A. huronensis is another fish tapeworm with ability to spread throughout the globe as a result of man-made introductions of its fish hosts.

Keywords

Biological invasions Helminth parasites Fish Common carp Cyprinus carpio Africa 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to Eva Bazsalovicsová, Parasitological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice, Slovakia, for providing unpublished data on the cox1 gene sequence of A. huronensis from South Africa and to Roman Kuchta, Institute of Parasitology, České Budějovice, for helping with figures. This study was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (project no. P505/12/G112 to T.S.) and the Institute of Parasitology (RVO: 60077344). The authors are also obliged to the Biodiversity Research Chair (University of Limpopo) for funding field surveys and to Hendrik E. Hattingh and Willem J. Smit for their field assistance.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Tomáš Scholz
    • 1
  • Sareh Tavakol
    • 2
  • Ali Halajian
    • 2
  • Wilmien J. Luus-Powell
    • 2
  1. 1.Institute of ParasitologyBiology Centre of the Czech Academy of SciencesČeské BudějoviceCzech Republic
  2. 2.Department of Biodiversity, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and AgricultureUniversity of LimpopoSovengaSouth Africa

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