Khawia japonensis (Cestoda: Caryophyllidea): another invasive parasite of carp, Cyprinus carpio L., imported to Europe

Abstract

Carp, Cyprinus carpio L., is one of the most important cultured fish, especially in Central Europe and Asia. In Europe, it is infected with a large number of parasites, many of them introduced from Asia, mainly from the Far East of Russia and China. Parasitic worms, i.e. helminths, are represented, among others, by tapeworms (Cestoda) including the most pathogenic species, the Asian fish tapeworm Bothriocephalus acheilognathi Yamaguti, 1934 (syn. B. gowkongensis Yeh, 1955), recently placed in the order Bothriocephalidea. Other potentially pathogenic cestodes of carp belong to the order Caryophyllidea, the species of which possess a monozoic (only one set of genital organs) and unsegmented body and use tubificid oligochaetes as intermediate hosts. Khawia sinensis Hsu, 1935 (Caryophyllidea: Lytocestidae), is native in East Asia and was described from the vicinity of Beijing in China (Hsu, 1935). It successfully colonized a major part of Europe and was also imported to North America. However, the veterinary importance of K. sinensis has decreased considerably during the last few decades, possibly as a result of the more recent introduction of Atractolytocestus huronensis Anthony, 1958 (Lytocestidae), to Europe. In this paper, another caryophyllidean cestode, Khawia japonensis (Yamaguti, 1934), which occurred originally in East Asia, is reported from Europe for the first time

Caryophyllidean tapeworms (Cestoda), Nearctic parasites of fish in Mexico, including description of a new species of Isoglaridacris and the first report of Khawia japonensis, an invasive parasite of common carp (Cyprinus carpio)

“…Khawia japonensis was described as Caryophyllaeus japonensis from the common carp, Cyprinus carpio , in Japan and occurred originally in East Asia ( Yamaguti 1934 ; Protasova et al, 1990 ; Scholz et al, 2001 , 2011a ). With the import of common carp throughout the world, the parasite was introduced to North America (described there as Khawia iowensis by Calentine and Ulmer, 1961 ) and more recently to Europe ( Scholz et al 2011b , 2018 ).…”

Effect of intestinal tapeworms on the gut microbiota of the common carp, Cyprinus carpio

“…The collected tapeworms were gently rinsed in saline, prefixed in 70% hot alcohol, and then taxonomically identified according to the morphological features of the scolex under a stereomicroscope [26]. Owing to the similar scolex morphology of Atractolytocestus spp., A. tenuicollis was identified using the number of testes [23].…”

“…The tapeworms Khawia sinensis , K. japonensis and Atractolytocestus sp. are commonly found in the intestine of the common carp [23–26]. Tapeworms can rob the host of nutrients through the tegument and thereby restrict the host’s growth.…”

Non-Indigenous Parasites of Fish in Inland Waters of Croatia

“…These species were originally described from common carp Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus 1758 in the USA but were subsequently reported in Europe. The North American origin of the parasites is doubtful because common carp is not indigenous to this continent (Scholz et al, 2011), while the occurrence in Europe is puzzling because common carp is seldom imported from the USA to Europe, while shipments of Asian cyprinids, particularly koi carp, are a daily activity (Molnár et al, 2003). Gill worm D. extensus was discovered in the Amur River and described as D. solidus by Akhmerov in 1948, and it appears that the parasite was co-introduced during the planned shipments of Amur wild carp into Europe (Molnár, 2009).…”