The life-cycle of the tapeworm Bothriocephalus claviceps (Goeze, 1782) (Cestoda: Pseudophyllidea), a specific parasite of eels (Anguilla spp.), was studied under experimental conditions. It was demonstrated that the parasite completed its development within 4 months at the temperature range of 22-24 degrees C. Embryonic development was finished in 2 days at this temperature, when coracidia spontaneously hatched. The rate of their development was controlled by water temperature, with delayed formation of coracidia at lower temperatures (8 days at 10-12 degrees C). At 2-4 and 6 degrees C, development did not take place but the eggs remained viable; at 33 degrees C the eggs died. The procercoids developed in copepods of the species Macrocyclops albidus, M. fuscus, Megacyclops viridis, Cyclops strenuus, C. vicinus and Acanthocyclops vernalis (Copepoda: Cyclopidae); their development was finished after 8-12 days at 22-24 degrees C. The definitive hosts, eels, acquired infection after ingestion of infected copepods; the prepatent period of the parasite was more than three months. Perch (Perca fluviatilis) and guppies (Poecilia reticulata) were shown to serve as paratenic hosts of the parasite; in guppies, the tapeworms survived up to 14 days after exposure and they developed similarly to tapeworms in the definitive host.

Institute of Parasitology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Branisovská 31 370 05 Ceské Budejovice Czech Republic

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ERECTION OF BOTHRIOCESTUS N. GEN. (CESTODA: BOTHRIOCEPHALIDEA) AND REDESCRIPTION OF BOTHRIOCESTUS CUSPIDATUS (COOPER, 1917) (SYN. BOTHRIOCEPHALUS CUSPIDATUS) FROM WALLEYE, SANDER VITREUS, (PERCIFORMES: PERCIDAE) IN NORTH AMERICA

A taxonomic study of species of Bothriocephalus Rudolphi, 1808 (Cestoda: Pseudophyllidea) from eels in Japan: morphological and molecular evidence for the occurrence of B. claviceps (Goeze, 1782) and confirmation of the validity of B. Japonicus Yamaguti, 1934