Endoparasites in common eiders Somateria mollissima from birds killed by an oil spill in the northern Wadden Sea

Association of helminth infections and food consumption in common eiders Somateria mollissima in Iceland

“…Thieltges et al (2006) counted 416 worms in the most intensively infected eider in the Northern Wadden Sea, a slightly higher burden than the most intensive infection detected in the present study (302 worms). Previously, various authors also reported A. anseris to infect eiders, but a recent review considered the species to infect geese exclusively (representatives of Anser and Branta) (Borgstede et al, 2006).…”

“…They were rarely found and the intensity of infecton was low (Table 2). These nematodes have a wide distribution, both in Europe and Northern America (McDonalds, 1969;Bishop and Threlfall, 1974;Persson et al, 1974, Borgstede et al, 2005Thieltges et al, 2006). P. botulus predominated among acanthocephalans found in the present survey.…”

“…The most prevalent nematode in the survey, the gizzard nematode A. acutum, is also usually prevalent in other studies on eiders (Kulachkova, 1958;Bishop and Threlfall, 1974;Persson et al, 1974;Thieltges et al, 2006;Kats et al, 2007). Thieltges et al (2006) counted 416 worms in the most intensively infected eider in the Northern Wadden Sea, a slightly higher burden than the most intensive infection detected in the present study (302 worms).…”

“…P. botulus predominated among acanthocephalans found in the present survey. Infection prevalences exceeding 90% are frequently mentioned in other studies, such as from the west coast of Sweden (Persson et al, 1974), Scotland (Liat and Pike, 1980) and the Wadden Sea (Camphuysen et al, 2002;Thieltges et al, 2006), and Newfoundland (Bishop and Threlfall, 1974). The possible role of P. botulus as a direct cause of mortality of eiders has been suggested (Garden et al, 1964, Persson et al, 1974, but heavy infection levels have also been reported from apparently healthy eiders showing no ill effects (Liat and Pike, 1980;Thompson, 1985a).…”

Macroparasite community in molluscs of a tidal basin in the Wadden Sea

“…Such a high diversity of trematode parasites seems likely due to the high abundance of intermediate as well as final hosts in the Wadden Sea. The complex life cycles of trematodes can easily be completed and this results in a high parasite load in mollusc intermediate hosts, as shown in this study, but also in bird final hosts (Loos-Frank 1971c; Borgsteede et al 1988;Thieltges et al 2006). ''Sites'' were used as replicates, hence n = 2-6 (see Table 1 The use of various groups of organisms as hosts at different developmental stages results in a complex web of interactions between trematode parasites and their hosts (Table 3).…”