Paradujardinia halicoris infection in dugong (Dugong dugon) carcasses beached along the coast of Tamil Nadu, India Valsala Rajesh Nakulan1,*, Chirukandoth Sreekumar, Alagan Vijayalingam Thavasi2, Srinivasan Ramesh3, Alagumalai Senthilkumar, Mohammed Sakthivel4, Annamalai Latchumikanthan5, Ramaswamy Sridhar6 Department of Wildlife Science, Madras Veterinary College, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), Chennai, Vepery – 600007, Tamil Nadu, India 1Veterinary College and Research Institute, Ramayanpatti, Tirunelveli – 627 358 2Veterinary University Training and Research Centre, TANUVAS, Ramanathapuram – 623 503 3Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, ICAR- Mandapam Regional Centre of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Mandapam Camp, Ramanathapuram – 623 503 4ICAR-Mandapam Regional Centre of Central Marine Fisheries Research institute, Mandapam Camp, Ramanathapuram– 623 518, Tamil Nadu, India 5Veterinary College and Research Institute, Orathanadu, Thanjavur – 614 625, TANUVAS 6Wildlife Pathology Consultant, Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation, Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Vandalur, Chennai – 600 048 *Corresponding author. Email: crocvet@gmail.com
Online Published on 15 February, 2024. Abstract Carcasses of dugongs (Dugong dugon), beached along the coast of Tamil Nadu, India between February 2021 and September 2023 were examined for the presence of helminth parasites. The nematode Paradujardinia halicoris was found in four out of the six carcasses examined, with a range of about 20-45 worms in each. The worms were identified based on the morphological features viz., anterior mouth parts (well developed lips, separated by a transverse groove on the oral surface), genital structures in male (alate spicules with rounded ends) and female worms. The gross and histopathological changes in the carcasses were discussed. Top Keywords Sirenians, Dugong dugon, Paradujardinia halicoris, Morphology, Histopathology. Top |