Helminths of pond-reared walleye from Wisconsin.

Abstract

One hundred extended growth walleye fingerlings, Sander vitreus (Percidae), collected on 6 October 2004, from 1 rearing pond at the Lake Mills State Fish Hatchery in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, were examined for parasites. Diplostomum sp. (Trematoda: Diplostomatidae), Contracaecum sp. (Nematoda: Anisakidae), Bothriocephalus cuspidatus (Cestoda: Bothriocephalidae), and Proteocephalus sp. (Cestoda: Proteocephalidae) were the only parasites found. The first 3 species occurred as larval stages. Diplostomum sp. and Contracaecum sp. had similar prevalences, mean intensities, and mean abundances (72%, 2.2, and 1.6 and 71%, 2.1, 1.5, respectively) in walleye fingerlings. A headlamp technique used by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources personnel generated a prevalence of Diplostomum sp. in the lens that overestimated the prevalence of Diplostomum sp. found in a random subsample of 100 fingerlings examined with a microscope. Proteocephalus sp. and B. cuspidatus infected 14 and 12 fingerlings, respectively.