Anisakis physeteris Baylis, 1923

Nagasawa, K. & Moravec, F., 2002, Larval anisakid nematodes from four species of squid (Cephalopoda: Teuthoidea) from the central and western North Paci ® c Ocean, Journal of Natural History 36 (8), pp. 883-891 : 886-887

Anisakis physeteris Baylis, 1923

(®gure 2)

Third-stage larva (one specimen). Body 24 860 long and 597 wide; cuticle with ®ne transverse striae. Cephalic end rounded, with prominent ventral cuticular tooth; latter 14 long, ventrally bent, with rounded tip. Anlagen of lips weakly developed. Oesophagus almost cylindrical, muscular, 2270 long. Ventriculus 505 long and 287 wide, its posterior end shaped transversely to longitudinal axis of body. Excretory pore situated below ventral cephalic tooth. Intestine straight . Rectum short, hyaline; three small round unicellular rectal glands present. Tail conical, 304 long, with rounded tip; caudal spike absent .

Host. Onychoteuthis borealijaponica Okada, 1927 (Onychoteuthidae) .

Site of infection. Stomach wall.

Locality. Central North Paci®c Ocean (43ss39¾N, 179ss30¾W, 23 June 1993).

Voucher specimen deposited. Institute of Parasitology, ASCR, C Ïeske BudeÏjovice (Cat. No. N-705).

Comments

Anisakis physeteris third-stage larva diOEers from that of the foregoing species ( A. simplex ) principally in a much shorter ventriculus, the posterior end of which is shaped transversely to the longitudinal axis of body (oblique in A. simplex , see Oshima, 1972). Larvae of this species have been reported from squid species Todarodes japonicus , Loligo (Doryteuthis) bleekeri Keferstein and Ommastrephes bartramii from the western North Paci®c by Kato et al. (1968) (as Anisakis Type II larvae), Bagrov (1982) and Kurochkin and Solov’eva (1982).

Anisakis physeteris parasitizes in adulthood mainly the sperm whale ( Physeter catodon ) ( Davey, 1971). Conspeci®c third-stage larvae are known to occur in marine ®shes and squids ( Oshima, 1972).