Common sculpin Cottus gobio as a natural paratenic host of Proteocephalus longicollis (Cestoda: Proteocephalidae), a parasite of salmonids, in Europe

Abstract

Common sculpins Cottus gobio L. (Pisces: Cottidae), from the Mlýnský Brook near České Žleby in the Šumava National Park, southwestern Bohemia, Czech Republic, were found to harbour in their intestines juvenile cestodes Proteocephalus longicollis (Zeder, 1800), a common parasite of holarctic salmonids, with a prevalence of 60% and intensity of 1 to 11 (mean 5) parasites per fish; undoubtedly, these prey fish serve as paratenic hosts. In this locality, the definitive host of P. longicollis is the brown trout Salmo trutta m. fario L., large specimens of which apparently acquire infection of this parasite by feeding on infected sculpins. C. gobio is the first known natural paratenic host of P. longicollis in Europe.