Profilicollis botulus (Acanthocephala) abundance in the eider duck (Somateria mollissima) on the Ythan estuary, Aberdeenshire

Abstract

The abundance of Profilicollis botulus was monitored in eider ducks for 3 years. No significant difference in P. botulus abundance was found between eiders taken alive and those collected dead from the shore line, or between adult males and adult females. Adult male eiders had a seasonal pattern of infection. Incubating female eiders lost their infection in almost all cases, suggesting that a seasonal pattern of infection must also occur in these birds. Eiders in their first winter had P. botulus abundances which were approximately 10 times that of adult eiders, but by the following summer the abundance had declined to that found in adults. Data are compared with previous studies undertaken on the Ythan estuary. Captive eiders were used to determine the developmental rate of female P. botulus and the percentage of administered cystacanths which established in the intestine. There was no evidence to suggest that male and female P. botulus have different life-spans.

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

“…Similar average intensity of P. botulus in the females on 11 May and 24 June did not indicate that the worms had been lost during incubation, as reported by Thompson (1985a).…”

“…Eggs are immediately infective to crabs upon ingestion, where they develop to the infective cystacanth stage. Cystacanths are long lived and are thought to survive as long as the crabs; adult worms live for at least 2 months (McDonald, 1969;Thompson, 1985a;1985b).…”

“…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). Recent studies of eiders affected by an oil spill in the northern Wadden Sea (i.e.…”

An Experimental Study on the Effects of Polymorphiasis in Common Eider Ducklings

“…Suitable intermediate hosts for Polymorphus botulus are not found in the eider breeding areas, and these parasites have not been associated with eider duckling mortality in the area. Elsewhere, acanthocephalans also have been commonly found in parasitologic surveys of wild waterfowl, including eiders (Garden, 1964;Bishop and Threlfall, 1974;Thompson, 1985), but experimental studies of the possible health effects of these parasites on their avian host are rare.…”

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

“…Similarly, in February, subadult males were responsible for the Microsomacanthus infection intensity peak observed in male birds (Fig. 3); three subadult birds (Galaktionov and Dobrovolskij, 2003); c (Galkin et al, 2005); d (Regel, 2001); e (Thompson, 1985a).…”