Helminth communities of European eels Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758) from the Vistula Lagoon and Puck Bay, Poland.

Within 2001-2002 a total of 621 eel Anguilla anguilla (L., 1758) (488 from the Vistula Lagoon and 133 from the Puck Bay) were examined. Fifteen parasite taxa were recovered: Pseudodactylogyrus anguillae (Yin et Sproston, 1948), Brachyphallus crenatus (Rudolphi, 1802), Deropristis inflata (Molin, 1859), Diplostomum spp., Bothriocephalus claviceps (Goeze, 1782), Proteocephalus macrocephalus (Creplin, 1825), Anguillicola crassus (Kuwahara, Niimi et Itagaki, 1974), Camallanus lacustris (Zoega, 1776), Cystidicola farionis Fischer, 1798, Hysterothylacium aduncum (Rudolphi, 1802), Raphidascaris acus (Bloch, 1779), Acanthocephalus anguillae (Müller, 1780), A. lucii (Müller, 1776), Echinorhynchus gadi Müller, 1776, and Pomphorhynchus laevis (Müller, 1776), representing Monogenea, Digenea, Cestoda, Nematoda, and Acanthocephala, respectively. Ten of these taxa occurred in the Vistula Lagoon, while fourteen were noted in the Puck Bay. P. anguillae, Diplostomum spp., C. lacustris, C. farionis and P. laevis were not found in the lagoon eels, while B. crenatus did not occur in the bay. Anguillicola crassus was the most frequently found parasite (Vistula Lagoon: prevalence 75%, mean intensity 6.9 specimens; Puck Bay: 74.4%, and 8.3 specimens, respectively). Pseudodactylogyrus anguillae was recorded for the first time in the Puck Bay.