Capillaria (Procapillaria) gracilis (Bellingham, 1840) Travassos, 1915

Arai, Hisao P. & Smith, John W., 2016, Guide to the Parasites of Fishes of Canada Part V: Nematoda, Zootaxa 4185 (1), pp. 1-274 : 25-26

Capillaria (Procapillaria) gracilis (Bellingham, 1840) Travassos, 1915

Synonym: Capillaria kabatai Inglis & Coles, 1963 Description (after Moravec 2001). With characteristics of the genus.

Males: Body length 7.14–8.42 long, maximum width 0.041–0.054. Muscular oesophagus 0.180–0.396 long,

stichosome 4.04–6.85, 47 stichocytes. Nerve ring 0.111 from anterior end. Spicule slender, 0.975–1.375 long,

posterior half with rough transverse grooves ( Fig. 19 A). Cloaca opening subterminal. Tail rounded, 0.009–0.018

long, with ventro-lateral lobe, 0.018–0.027 long, on either side, each probably with a papilla ( Fig. 19 B). Pair of

large sessile adcloacal papillae at lobe bases.

Females: Gravid worms 13.20–35.16 long, maximum width 0.068–0.095. Muscular oesophagus 0.225–0.450

long, stichosome 5.04–8.73, 38–51 stichocytes. Nerve ring 0.081–0.114 from anterior end. Vulva with appendage

0.027–0.123 behind oesophago-intestinal junction ( Fig. 19 C); rarely gravid females lack the appendage. Uterus

with many eggs in one row near vulva. Mature eggs 0.072–0.090 x 0.027–0.036.

Site: intestine

Hosts: Anarhichas lupus (2); Hippoglossoides platessoides (2); Hippoglossus hippoglossus (2); Macrourus berglax (3); Merluccius albidus (4); Merluccius bilinearis (1); Myoxocephalus octodecemspinosus (5); Nezumia bairdii (3); Urophycis chuss (4); Urophycis tenuis (4)

Distribution: Atlantic

Records: 1. Gaevskaya & Umnova 1977; 2. Zubchenko 1980; 3. Zubchenko 1981a; 4. Scott 1987; 5. Moravec 1987

Figures

FIGURE 19. Capillaria (Procapillaria) gracilis (Bellingham, 1840) Travassos, 1915. A. male, posterior end; B. male, tail, ventral view; C. female, vulvar region with appendage. (Redrawn from Moravec 2001)