ANGUILLICOLIDAE Yamaguti, 1935

Arai, Hisao P. & Smith, John W., 2016, Guide to the Parasites of Fishes of Canada Part V: Nematoda, Zootaxa 4185 (1), pp. 1-274 : 36

Family ANGUILLICOLIDAE Yamaguti, 1935

Preamble: Five species of the eel swim bladder nematode Anguillicola are recognised currently: A. globiceps Yamaguti, 1935 (type species); A. australiensis Johnston & Mawson, 1940 ; A. crassus Kuwahara, Niimi & Itagaki, 1974 ; A. novaezelandiae Moravec & Taraschewski, 1988 ; and A. papernai Moravec & Taraschewski, 1988 . Reports of A. crassus as an invasive species in American eels ( Anguilla rostrata ) in Canadian and other North American waters are of concern because the nematode causes morbidity and mortality in Japanese and European eels, A. japonica and A. anguilla ( Laetsch et al. 2012) . Molecular analyses by Laetsch et al. (op. cit.) do not support Moravec’s (2006) division of the Family Anguillicolidae Yamaguti, 1935 , into the genera Anguillicola Yamaguti, 1935 , and Anguillicoloides Moravec & Taraschewski, 1988 . Further analyses might not support Moravec & Taraschewski’s (1988) erection of the subgenera Anguillicola and Anguillicoloides within Anguillicola . Indeed , in an exploration of spirurine evolutionary relationships Wijová , Moravec , Horák & Lukeš (2006) referred, without comment, to the binomen Anguillicola crassus ; they also stated that “the genus Anguillicola should be evaluated within an independent Superfamily Anguillicoloidea, whose position within a higher taxonomic unit remains uncertain at best”. Future molecular analyses might shed light on such problems.

Evidence that forage fish species in North America serve as paratenic hosts of Anguillicola crassus was provided by Li et al. (2015). Of Canadian interest was the finding of two A. crassus L 3 in one of nine Atlantic tomcod ( Microgadus tomcod ) from the Mira River , Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; one of these L3 was 846µm long and 33µm wide.

Family diagnosis (after Moravec 2013). Buccal capsule well developed, with numerous peribuccal teeth. Cuticle smooth, spinose or with papilla-like excrescences. Four submedian cephalic papillae present. Oesophagus short, undivided. Males with common cloacal duct opening on prominent process. Preanal and postanal papillae present. Vulva well developed, situated in posterior half of body. Parasites of swim bladder of eels.