Anguillicola crassus, un colonisateur agressif récemment introduit dans les stocks Européens d'anguilles

Abstract

Conveyed from the Far East Asia, the nematode parasite Anguillicola crassus has been introduced into Europe and has successfully colonized most European countries throughout the 1980's. Although influenced by colonization patterns, parasite populations tend towards maximal prevalence and predictable mean intensities in most freshwater European biocenosis. These data indicate that'this parasite possesses several attributes of an aggressive colonizer such as high dispersion ability, length of the free stage survival, high fecundity and reproductive rate, receptivity of intermediate and paratenic hosts. The biological mechanisms of the colonization of Anguillicola crassus and the parasite impact on the definitive host populations are reviewed.