Myxosoma funduli Kudo 1918 (Protozoa: Myxosporida) in Fundulus kansae (Pisces: Cyprinodontidae): Annual Prevalence and Geographic Distribution

Authors

Stephen A. Knight, United States Department of AgricultureFollow
John J. Janovy Jr., University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
William L. Current, Targanta Therapeutics

Date of this Version

10-1980

Comments

Published in the Journal of Parasitology (October 1980) 66(5): 806-810. Copyright 1980, the American Society of Parasitologists. Used by permission.

Abstract

The occurrence and distribution of the myxosporidan, Myxosoma funduli, in the Plains killifish (Fundulus kansae) were investigated. Samples from sites on the South Platte and Platte River drainages in Nebraska were collected by seining during various months of 1976, 1977, and 1978. At a number of the localities no F. kansae were found; the remainder of the collecting sites showed the host population to be abundant, but the M. funduli infections to vary in prevalence. The protozoan parasite population in F. kansae, upstream from the Nebraska Tri-County Diversion Dam and Canal, at North Platte, Nebraska, demonstrated year-long distributions and intensities similar to those reported for the summer months of 1975 and 1976 (Knight et al., 1977). However, downstream from the diversion dam, prevalence of M. funduli in F. kansae was considerably lower than that observed upstream. The demographic characteristics of the infected fish subpopulation were identical to those of the whole fish population upstream from the diversion, whereas those infected fish downstream from the diversion were too few to establish conclusive demographic results.