Some host-parasite relationships of Diplostomum flexicaudum.

Abstract

Diplostomum flexicaudum, also known as an eye fluke, is a common digenetic trematode to the lakes in the Midwest (Kalbe et al., 2002). The definitive host is usually a sea gull where the D. flexicaudum is in the adult stage. The snail, Stagnicola emarginata, acts as a lst intermediate, while certain fish species act as the 2nd intermediate host. This study examined the effect of surface area size of pumpkinseeds (Lepomis gbbosus) and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides) and the number of metacercariae of D. flexicaudum in the ocular lens in the host fish. In this study different sizes of fish categorized as small, medium, and large were exposed to 500 cercariae of D. flexicaudum. Also largemouth bass were included into the 'small' tank to see if there was any host specificity among the cercariae. A significant relationship showed that as the surface area of the pumpkinseed increased so did the number of metacercariae in the eye lens. Also no metacercariae were found in the eye lens of the large mouth bass only in the pumpkinseeds.