Camallanus carangis Olsen, 1954

Moravec, František & Justine, Jean-Lou, 2019, New species and new records of camallanid nematodes (Nematoda, Camallanidae) from marine fishes and sea snakes in New Caledonia, Parasite (Paris, France) 26 (66), pp. 1-25 : 21-23

Camallanus carangis Olsen, 1954

Syns.: Camallanus marinus Schmidt et Kuntz, 1969 ; C. paracarangis Velasquez, 1980 .

Hosts: Perciformes : Yellowtail scad Atule mate (Cuvier) , yellowspotted trevally Carangoides fulvoguttatus (Forsskål) , shadow trevally Carangoides dinema and bigeye scad Selar crumenophthalmus (Bloch) (all Carangidae ), gold-saddle goatfish Parupeneus cyclostomus (Lacepède) and Indian goatfish Parupeneus indicus (Shaw) (both Mullidae ), crimson jobfish Pristipomoides filamentosus (Valenciennes) ( Lutjanidae ), and tomato hind Cephalopholis sonnerati (Valenciennes) , highfin grouper Epinephelus maculatus (Bloch) , camouflage grouper Epinephelus polyphekadion (Bleeker) and red-tipped grouper Epinephelus retouti Bleeker (all Serranidae ). Clupeiformes : dorab wolf-herring Chirocentrus dorab (Forsskål) ( Chirocentridae ). Gravid (larvigerous) females recorded only from S. crumenophthalmus . Only nematode fourth-stage larvae found in P. indicus and C. dorab .

In addition to fishes, a single fourth-stage larva of C. carangis was found in the regurgitated digestive content obtained from the New Caledonian sea krait Laticauda saintgironsi (Parasitological number JNB 012) collected on Ilôt Signal, off Nouméa, on 28 February 2011.

Site of infection: Intestine.

Locality: Off Nouméa, New Caledonia.

Prevalence, intensity and details about fish: Atule mate : 1 fish infected/14 fish examined, 4 nematodes; infected fish, number JNC 2963, 5 June 2009, Nouméa fishmarket, FL 318 mm, W 508 g. Carangoides fulvoguttatus : 1/15, 1 nematode; infected fish, number JNC 3299, 28 January 2011, Nouméa fishmarket, FL 265 mm, W 409 g. Carangoides dinema : 1/9, 2 nematodes; infected fish, number JNC 2882, 13 March 2009, Nouméa fishmarket, FL 293 mm, W 577 g. Selar crumenophthalmus : 2/10, 1–2 nematodes; infected fish, number JNC 3043, 10 September 2009, Nouméa fishmarket, FL 227 mm, W 194 g and number JNC 3125, Nouméa fishmarket, 25 November 2009, FL 240 mm, W 275 g. Parupeneus cyclostomus : 1/7, 2 nematodes; infected fish, number JNC 1922, 22 August 2006, external reef near Ever Prosperity, off Nouméa, 22°27 0 28.8 00 S, 166°21 0 50.4 00 E, FL 263 mm, W 344 g; fish deposited in the ichthyological collections as MNHN-IC-2006-1753. Parupeneus indicus : 1/11, 1 nematode; infected fish, number JNC 1964, 21 September 2006, Nouméa fishmarket, FL 290 mm, W 560 g. Pristipomoides filamentosus : 1/7, 1 nematode; infected fish, number JNC 2460, 26 February 2008, near Passe de Dumbéa, off Nouméa, 22° 220 S, 166° 140 E, FL 360 mm, W 863 g. Cephalopholis sonnerati : 1/5, 3 nematodes; infected fish, number JNC 2934, 12 May 2009, near Récif Toombo, off Nouméa, 22° 31 0 40 S, 166° 28 0 36 E, FL 474 mm, W 1600 g. Epinephelus maculatus : 1/38, 1 nematode; infected fish, number JNC 2157, 17 April 2007, External reef near Ever Prosperity, off Nouméa, 22°27 0 28.8 00 S, 166°21 0 50.4 00 E, FL 535 mm, W 2050 g. Epinephelus polyphekadion : 1/3, 1 nematode; infected fish, number JNC 3036, 8 September 2009, Passe de Dumbéa, off Nouméa, 22° 210232 S, 166° 140236 E, FL 410 mm, W 1055 g. Epinephelus retouti : 1/2, 2 nematodes; infected fish, number JNC 2181, 19 June 2009, near Récif Toombo, off Nouméa, FL 329 mm, W 575 g. Chirocentrus dorab : 1/11, 1 nematode; infected fish, number JNC 3236, 9 September 2010, Nouméa fishmarket, FL 700 mm, W 1538 g.

Deposition of voucher specimens: Muséum National d’ Histoire Naturelle, Paris ( MNHN JNC 364B, JNC 1903, JNC 1922, JNC 1964, JNC 2157C, JNC 2181, JNC 2882, JNC 2934, JNC 2960, JNC 2963, JNC 3036, JNC 3236, JNB 013).

Remarks

The general morphology of the present specimens corresponds to that of C. carangis , as redescribed by Moravec et al. [ 27], and, therefore, they are assigned to this species. Since C. carangis has been redescribed and illustrated in detail by Moravec et al. [ 27], who also described its characteristic fourth-stage larva, we refrain from repeating the description of this species, based on newly collected specimens. Nevertheless, their measurements are compared in Tables 1–3.

Camallanus carangis , originally described from Caranx sp. in Fiji [ 36], is known as a parasite of carangids and fishes belonging to some other families in Hawaii, French Polynesia, the Philippines, in the Arabian, Arafura, South China and Red Seas and also from off New Caledonia [ 23]. The present findings of C. carangis in fishes Carangoides dinema , C. fulvoguttatus , Cephalopholis sonnerati , Chirocentrus dorab , Epinephelus maculatus , E. retouti , Parupeneus cyclostomus , P. indicus , Pristipomoides filamentosus and Selar crumenophthalmus , as well as in the sea-snake Laticauda saintgironsi , represent new host records.

From New Caledonian waters, C. carangis was previously reported from marine perciform fishes Carangoides chrysophrys (Cuvier) and C. hedlandensis (Whitley) ( Carangidae ), Nemipterus furcosus (Valenciennes) ( Nemipteridae ), and Parupeneus ciliatus (Lacepède) and Upeneus vittatus (Forsskål) (both Mullidae ) [ 23, 27]. The present survey extends considerably the range of hosts of C. carangis in New Caledonia, now including 15 fish species of the perciform families Carangidae , Lutjanidae , Mullidae , Nemipteridae and Serranidae , and a representative of the clupeiform family Chirocentridae . Of them, however, gravid (= larvigerous) females of this nematode have so far been recorded only from the carangid S. crumenophthalmus and the mullid U. vittatus , confirming thus that these fishes serve as the true definitive hosts for this parasite. Apparently, some of the hosts recorded serve only as paratenic, paradefinitive or postcyclic hosts [ 34], as is known, for example, for Camallanus lacustris (Zoega, 1776) or C. oxycephalus Ward et Magath, 1916 , parasites of freshwater fishes in the Holarctic [ 20, 21, 44]. The present record of the C. carangis fourth-stage larva in the digestive tract of a sea-snake indicates that the snake acquired this infection while feeding on fish.

To date, C. carangis is the only representative of Camallanus parasitizing marine fishes in New Caledonian waters. Another congeneric species, C. cotti , a parasite of freshwater fishes, was introduced into New Caledonia [ 24].