Observations on the biology of Rhabdochona kidderi texensis, a parasite of North American cichlids

Abstract

An examination of a sample of benthic invertebrates collected from the Upper San Marcos River in southwestern Texas, USA in September 1999 revealed that the nymph of the ephemeropteran Tricorythodes curvatus served as natural intermediate host of the nematode Rhabdochona kidderi texensis (Nematoda: Rhabdochonidae), an intestinal parasite mainly of the Rio Grande perch (Cichlasoma cyanoguttatum) in this locality; the prevalence of the parasite's third- and fourth-stage larvae in mayflies was 6.8% with the intensity of 1-2 larvae per nymph. Live R. kidderi texensis eggs collected from nematodes recovered from C. cyanoguttatum in Texas were transported to the Czech Republic, where they were used to experimentally infect nymphs of the palaearctic mayfly species Paraleptophlebia submarginata; the development of infective third- and fourth-stage larvae in this experimental intermediate host was completed after approximately 10 days at 19 degrees C. Infected nymphs were fed to aquarium-reared fishes, four Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum and one Oreochromis niloticus, of which only three of the former became infected. The last (fourth) moult of a male nematode was observed in C. nigrofasciatum 23 days p.i. and adult males and gravid females with not fully mature (non-embryonated) eggs in uteri on days 40 and 51 p.i. The prepatent period of R. kidderi texensis is approximately two months.