Telosentis exiguus

Telosentis exiguus
Telosentis exiguus from the Big-scale sand smelt from France
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Acanthocephala
Class:	Palaeacanthocephala
Order:	Echinorhynchida
Family:	Illiosentidae
Genus:	Telosentis
Species:	T. exiguus
Binomial name
Telosentis exiguus (von Linstow, 1901)
Synonyms
Echinorhynchus exiguus von Linstow, 1901 E. atherinae Rudolphi, 1819 E. acanthosoma Westrumb, 1821 E. lateralis Molin, 1858 Telosentis molini van Cleave, 1923

Telosentis exiguus is a widespread intestinal parasitic worm. Its hosts are marine and brackish water fish of the Mediterranean basin.

Characteristics

Proboscis of Telosentis exiguus from the grass goby from Ukraine

T. exiguus' tegument is covered with spines in anterior and posterior parts. Its cerebral ganglion located in central part of the proboscis sac, sometime moved to anterior region. Its proboscis is cylindrical or club-shaped, armed with 12 longitudal rows of hooks of same type; the smaller hooks are in the posterior region of proboscis, larger is in its central part. The roots of the hooks have long forward-facing appendixes.^[1]

Range

This species is found in the Mediterranean Sea^[2] (near the coasts of France and Italy), in the Adriatic Sea (Italy, Montenegro), the Sea of Marmara,^[3] the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov (near the coasts of Ukraine).

Hosts

T. exiguus is able to thrive in a variety hosts. It has been found as an intestinal parasite in anchovies, sand-smelts, shads, garfishes, eels, sticklebacks, pipe-fishes, grass gobies, some other gobies, blennies, and wrasses.

Life cycle

In the Black Sea the intermediate hosts of this acanthocephalan is the amphipod Apherusa bispinosa,^[4] in the coelom of which the cystacanthes are located. Fish are infested by feeding on amphipods infected with larvae.

References

1. Kvach Y., Sasal P. (2010) Telosentis exiguus (von Linstow, 1901) (Palaeacanthocephala: Illiosentidae), a generalist parasite of fishes in the Mediterranean basin. Systematic Parasitology, 76(1): 9-18.
2. Golvan Y.J. (1969) Systématique des acanthocéphales (Acanthocephala Rudolphi 1801). Première partie. L’ordre de Palaeacanthocephala Meyer 1931. Premier fascicule. La superfamille de Echinorhynchoidea (Cobbold 1876) Golvan et Houin 1963. Mémoires du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Série A), 57, 1–373.
3. Oğuz M.C. (1991) Ekınlı Lagnünüde yakalanan dere pısısı baliklari (Pleuronectus flesus luscus L. 1758) üzerıne parasıtolojık bır araştirma. Turkish Journal of Zoology, 15: 150–163.
4. Belofastova I.P., Grintsov V.A. (2003) On the Find of Acantellae of the Acanthocephalan Telosentis exiguus in Apherusa bispinosa (Amphipoda, Calliopiidae) in the Black Sea. Vestnik Zoologii, 37(4): 57–59. (in Russian)