Survey on the metacercarial infections of intestinal flukes in brackish water fish and oyster from Muan-gun,

초록

The human infection sources of intestinal flukes were surveyed in brackish water fishes i.e. dotted gizzard shad, sea perch, genuine goby, redlip mullet, silver bream, and oyster collected from Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do, Korea on August and September, 2007. Collected fishes and oysters were artificially digested with pepsin-HCl solution and examined under a stereomicroscope. In 36 shad (Konosirus punctatus) and 20 perch (Lateolabrax japonicus) examined, the metacercariae of Heterophyopsis continua were found in 58.3% and 100%, and average numbers of metacercariae were 12.0 and 6.3 per infected fish, respectively. In 34 gobies (Acanthogobius flavimanus) examined, the metacercariae of H. continus were deteced in 79.4%, Stictodora lari in 97.1% and Acanthotrema felis in 92.1%, and average metacercarial numbers were 45.8, 189.3 and 235.3 per infected fish, respectively. In 37 redlip mullets (Chelon haematocheilus), the metacercariae of Heterophyes nocens were found in 56.8%, Pygidiopsis summa in 94.6%, and Stictodora fuscata in 45.9%, and the average metacercarial densities were 17.4, 31.3 and 35.1 per infected fish, respectively. In 30 silver bream (Rhadosargus sarba) and 45 oysters (Crassostrea gigas) examined, no metacercariae were detected. From the above results, it was confirmed that brackish water fishes ie. dotted gizzard shad, sea perch, genuine goby and redlip mullet in Muangun, Jeollanam-do, Korea are heavily infected with the metacercariae of human infecting heterophyid flukes.