Contracaecum rudolphii Hartwich (Nematoda, Anisakidae) from the Neotropical Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus (Gmelin) (Aves, Phalacrocoracidae) in southern Brazil

Abstract

The present report is part of a larger study on the helminth fauna of Neotropical Cormorants, Phalacrocorax brasilianus (Gmelin, 1789) in Brazil, particularly, in the southernmost State of Rio Grande do Sul. The nematodes which were found loose in the proventriculus/ventriculus or in groups of adults of different ages and of L3 and L4 larval stages, forming eosinophylic granulomas had a prevalence of 100% in 47 Neotropical cormorants from Lago Guaíba, Municipality of Guaíba. The morphology of the labia/interlabia, the distribution pattern of the caudal papillae in males examined under scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the tips of the spicules allowed determination of the species as Contracaecum rudolphii Hartwich, 1964 sensu lato (s. l.). This is the first record of C. rudolphii in southern Brazil.