Endoparasites of fish-eating birds, Phalacrocorax africanus, P. carbo, Anhinga melanogaster and Ardea cinerea collected from Lake Chivero near Harare, Zimbabwe, were investigated. Adult Contracaecum spp. were found in the gastrointestinal tract (prevalence 100 % in P. africanus, P. carbo and A. melanogaster; 25 % in A. cinerea). Parasite intensity was 11-24 (mean 19) in P. africanus, 4-10 (mean...

The larval development of the nematode Contracaecum rudolphii (Rudolphi, 1819), a common parasite of the proventriculus of cormorants, was experimentally studied. Within the eggs cultivated in freshwater under laboratory temperatures of 20-22 degrees C, the developing larva undergoes two moults on days 4-5, attaining the third larval stage. Most of the ensheathed third-stage larvae, 291-457 mic...

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 prevale...