Description of Crenosoma vismani n. sp., parasitic in the lungs of Lynx lynx (L.) (Carnivora: Felidae), with identification key to the species of the genus Crenosoma Molin, 1861 (Nematoda: Crenosomatidae)

New Insights into Gastrointestinal and Pulmonary Parasitofauna of Wild Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in the Harz Mountains of Germany

“…The helminthofauna of the Eurasian lynx in Europe consists so far of approximately 16 nematode species, ten cestode species and one trematode species (for an overview please refer to Table 2) [9,14,22]. In line, we detected 15 taxa of parasites so far, of which five endoparasites (Cryptosporidium spp., G. intestinalis, Sarcocystis spp., U. stenocephala and Angiostrongylus spp.)…”

“…Molecular analysis revealed P. pulmonalis, which represents a lungworm-infecting lagomorphs (i.e., hares and rabbits), indicating that studies by copromicroscopy can help to reveal aspects of the trophic chain for this apex predator detecting spurious parasites of prey animals and, therefore, generating valuable data concerning wild animal diets and biome health. Beside spurious P. pulmonalis lungworm, so far three feline specific metas-trongyloid lungworm species in European lynx populations have been described, namely, A. abstrusus [8,20], Troglostrongylus brevior [25] and recently Crenosoma vismani [22]. The last species (i.e., C. vismani (Crenosomatidae)) represents a newly described metastrongyloid nematode of the European lynx [22].…”

“…Beside spurious P. pulmonalis lungworm, so far three feline specific metas-trongyloid lungworm species in European lynx populations have been described, namely, A. abstrusus [8,20], Troglostrongylus brevior [25] and recently Crenosoma vismani [22]. The last species (i.e., C. vismani (Crenosomatidae)) represents a newly described metastrongyloid nematode of the European lynx [22]. By morphological and morphometric analyses, A. abstrusus-like L1 were detected in collected lynx faeces.…”

“…New approaches for better DNA isolation/preservation of lungworm larvae obtained from freshly passed samples by Baermann funnel technique and ongoing molecular analyses will hopefully clarify species spectrum of metastrongyloid species in the near future. As metastrongyloid lungworm infections seem to spread within Europe [41,59] and South America [60,61], new species have been identified and prevalences seem to be rising, thus further research in neglected gastropod-borne diseases is valuable [22,[62][63][64][65][66][67].…”

“…Moreover, data on ecto-and endoparasites of wild lynx populations in Germany are still missing. The same holds true for data on the potential role of wild Eurasian lynx as apex predators in the epidemiology of zoonotic ecto-and endoparasitoses or the potential danger of parasitic transmission from wild cats and domestic/feral cats into lynx population habitats, e.g., for species of emerging and neglected feline gastropod-borne diseases of domestic pets such as aelurostrongylosis, angiostrongylosis, crenosomosis and troglostrongylosis [21][22][23] or for hookworms, where transmission from domestic cats to endangered Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is reported [24]. Furthermore, as apex predators within a complex food chain [30], European lynxes are predisposed to acquire food-borne parasitoses (e.g., sarcocystosis, toxoplasmosis, taeniosis, mesocestoidosis, opisthorchiosis and trichinellosis), water-borne parasitoses (e.g., giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis), soil-borne parasitoses (toxocarosis and uncinariosis) and can be ecological indicators for biome health as recently reported for close related L. pardinus in Europe [31].…”