2025/01/01 by Vytautas Rakauskas, Algirdas Kaupinis, Rasa Binkienė +3 · 1 voice
Environmental Science · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Parasite Biology and Host Interactions #Myxozoan Parasites in Aquatic Species #Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and Behavior
paper · pdf · doi:10.3391/bir.2025.14.4.14
openalex publication_date 2025/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/11/09 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/07
This study documents a new introduction of Ameiurus melas in Lithuania, discovered within two lentic waterbodies in the summer of 2024.Specimens of A. melas were found at high densities, raising many questions about their potential impacts in the shallow, eutrophic waterbodies in which they were found.Using molecular and morphological identification, the identity of A. melas was confirmed from both waterbodies.The abundance and age structure of A. melas were evaluated and their potential introduction pathways are discussed.An initial parasitological survey revealed that the newcomer co-introduced a monogenean species of North American origin, Ligictaluridus pricei.The study also found that A. melas could facilitate the transmission of local trematodes of the genus Diplostomum in Lithuanian freshwater ecosystems.