DAO 73:83-88(2006)  -  doi: 10.3354/dao073083

ABSTRACT: A wild-caught captive sandbar shark Carcharhinus plumbeus developed a contiguous network of darkly pigmented linear tracks that progressed from the snout to the ventral cervical region. Microscopic examination of a skin scraping revealed nematode eggs of the genus Huffmanela, a group of histozoic nematodes that is known to parasitize requiem sharks and marine and freshwater teleosts. The fresh eggs were darkly pigmented with bipolar plugs, contained a larva, and measured 73.3 to 86.4 by 39.0 to 47.4 µm (n = 10). Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded eggs were significantly smaller (Wilcoxon rank sums test, p < 0.005), measuring 70.5 to 78.9 by 33.6 to 41.3 µm (n = 13). These measurements do not correlate with previously reported species of Huffmanela. Serial treatment with levamisole (10 mg kg^–1, intramuscular [i.m.]) cleared the egg tracks within 21 d, with no recurrence or apparent complications.

KEY WORDS: Parasitic nematode · Huffmanela · Carcharhinus