Specimens of Spiculopteragia spiculoptera and S. asymmetrica were recovered from the abomasa of five of ten naturally infected red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Texas (USA). Female specimens of Spiculopteragia were present in all five animals. Male specimens of S. spiculoptera and S. asymmetrica were present in one of five and three of five red deer, respectively. Spiculopteragia spiculoptera has not previously been recognized in the United States and the present report constitutes the first records of Spiculopteragia spp. in red deer from North America. It is likely that species of Spiculopteragia have been introduced to North America with the import of exotic cervids on several occasions. Focal populations of these nematodes have been established in North America; however, distribution of the parasites likely coincides with areas of residence of introduced populations of red deer and fallow deer (Cervus dama) in the Nearctic

Allen, Nancy M.

Craig, Thomas M.

Hoberg, Eric P.

Rickard, Lora G.

Zimmerman, Gary L.

English

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - LincolnDigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - LincolnFaculty Publications from the Harold W. ManterLaboratory of Parasitology Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of1993Spiculopteragia spiculoptera and S. asymmetrica(Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) from Red Deer(Cervus elaphus) in TexasLora G. RickardOregon State UniversityEric P. HobergUnited States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, geocolonizer@gmail.comNancy M. AllenOregon State UniversityGary L. ZimmermanOregon State UniversityThomas M. CraigTexas A & M University - College StationFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/parasitologyfacpubsPart of the Biodiversity Commons, Parasitology Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic EcologyCommons, and the Zoology CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of at DigitalCommons@University ofNebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications from the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology by an authorizedadministrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.Rickard, Lora G.; Hoberg, Eric P.; Allen, Nancy M.; Zimmerman, Gary L.; and Craig, Thomas M., "Spiculopteragia spiculoptera and S.asymmetrica (Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) from Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) in Texas" (1993). Faculty Publications from the HaroldW. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology. 782.http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/parasitologyfacpubs/782Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 29(3). 1993, pp. 512-515 Wildlife Disease Association 1993512Spiculopteragia spiculoptera and S. asymmetnca(Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) from Red Deer(Cervus elaphus) in TexasLora G. Rlckard,’4 Eric P. Hoberg,2 Nancy M. Allen,’ Gary L Zimmerman,’ and Thomas M. Craig,3 ‘Collegeof Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA; 2 USDA, ARS, BARC East-1180,Beltsville, Maryland 20705, USA; 3College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843,USA. Present address: College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi39762, USAABSTRACT: Specimens of Spiculopteragia spic-uloptera and S. asymn2etnica were recoveredfrom the abomasa of five of ten naturally in-fected red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Texas (USA).Female specimens of Spiculopteragia werepresent in all five animals. Male specimens ofS. spiculoptera and S. asymmetnica were pres-ent in one of five and three of five red deer,respectively. Spiculopteragia spiculoptera hasnot previously been recognized in the UnitedStates and the present report constitutes the firstrecords of Spiculopteragia spp. in red deer fromNorth America. It is likely that species of Spicu-lopteragia have been introduced to NorthAmerica with the import of exotic cervids onseveral occasions. Focal populations of thesenematodes have been established in NorthAmerica; however, distribution of the parasiteslikely coincides with areas of residence of in-troduced populations of red deer and fallowdeer (Cervus darna) in the Nearctic.Key words: Parasites, Spiculoptenagia spic-uloptera, Spiculopteragia asymmetrica, Cervuselaphus, red deer, Trichostrongyloidea, Nem-atoda.Spiculoptenagia spiculoptera (=S. boh-mi) and Spiculoptenagia asymmetnica aregastrointestinal nematodes frequentlyfound in the abomasa of cervids but lessoften among some domestic and sylvaticbovids and camelids primarily in the Pa-learctic and Eurasia (Jansen, 1959; Drozdz,1966; Suarez and Cabaret, 1991). Spicu-lopteragia spiculoptera has been reportedfrom cervids including red deer (but notwapiti) (Cervus elaphus), sika deer (Cer-vus nippon), fallow deer (Cervus dama),sambar deer (Cenvus unicolor), roe deer(Capreolus capreolus), caribou/reindeer(Rangifer tarandus), moose (Alces alces),and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virgi-nianus). Bovid hosts include tahr (Hemi-tragus jemiahicus), chamois (Rupicapnarupicapra), mouflon (Ovis musimon), do-mestic sheep (Ovis aries), domestic goats(Capra hircus), and domestic cattle (Bostaurus), while camelid hosts are restrictedto a single report from a llama (Larna gla-ma) (Jansen, 1959, 1976; Drozdz, 1966;Doster and Friend, 1971; Andrews, 1973;Fruetel and Lankester, 1989; Suarez andCabaret, 1991). Spiculoptenagia asym-metnica has a similar host distribution pri-marily among cervids including red deer,sika deer, fallow deer, roe deer, caribou/reindeer, moose, and white-tailed deer. Itis rare in bovids and camelids, having beenrecorded only from chamois, sheep and allama (Ware, 1925; Jansen, 1959, 1976;Drozdz, 1966; Doster and Friend, 1971;Andrews, 1973; Fruetel and Lankester,1989; Suarez and Cabaret, 1991).The historical geographic range of bothspecies of Spiculoptenagia consideredherein, apparently includes the Palearcticand Eurasia; however, the current geo-graphic range has expanded through trans-location of infected hosts. Consequently,S. spiculoptera has become established inNew Zealand, Australia, and Argentina andS. asymmetrica in New Zealand, the Unit-ed States, and Argentina (Drozdz, 1965,1966, 1967; Doster and Friend, 1971; An-drews, 1973; McKenzie et a!., 1985; Frue-tel and Lankester, 1989; Suarez et a!., 1991).In this report of S. spiculoptera and S.asymmetrica from red deer on a gamefarm in Texas (USA), we present both anew locality record (S. spiculoptera) andhost record (both species) in North Amer-ica; these may be linked to introductionsof red deer from Europe or New Zealandduring the period from 1930 to 1989.SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 513Specimens of S. spiculoptera and S.asymmetnica were recovered from the ab-omasa of weanling red deer during ananthelmintic trial in which we applied Ivo-mec (MSD-Agvet, Rahway, New Jersey,USA) at 500 pg/kg along the dorsal mid-line according to the manufacturer’s in-structions. The animals were born andraised on a commercial game farm nearBellville, Texas (29#{176}57’N; 96#{176}17’W) that waspreviously a cattle ranch but had been con-verted to a red deer farm in the late 1980’s.The red deer used were offspring of ani-mals that were either imported from NewZealand in 1989 or were from a huntingpreserve in Texas. This hunting preservehad been established in the 1930’s and con-tained. in addition to red deer, numerousspecies of African hoofed stock and Eu-ropean fallow deer. The population of reddeer on the game farm was further sup-plemented by importation of red deer fromNew Zealand, Canada, and England in1988 and 1989. The red deer used in thestudy grazed pastures with a history of useby all the imported red deer as well asthose from the hunting preserve.Prior to initiation of the anthelmintictrial, the weanling red deer had receivedroutine health care but had not receivedany anthelmintic treatments while on thefarm. After weaning, animals were trans-ported from the point of origin to indoorhousing facilities at the College of Veter-inary Medicine, Texas A&M University,College Station, Texas. Upon arrival, fecalexaminations (Foreyt, 1990) were used toconfirm that all animals were passingstrongyle-type nematode eggs. For pur-poses of the trial, naturally acquired in-fections were supplemented by adminis-tering third-stage larvae of Dictyocaulusspp. (n = 2,000 larvae), Tnichostrongylusaxei (n = 15,000), Ostentagia spp. (n =15,000), Coopenia oncophora (n = 7,500),Coopenia punctata (n = 7,500), and Hae-monchus contortus (n = 5,000) to eachdeer. The larvae for each deer were com-bined and injected intrarumina!ly into theleft side of the animal using a 35 ml syringeand 16 gauge needle. Ten red deer wererandomly allocated into two groups (treat-ment and control) of five animals each.Animals from both groups were eutha-nized (Cash Stun Gun, Accles & ShelvokeLtd., Aston, Birmingham, England) andnecropsied 14 or 15 days after anthelmin-tic treatment.Female specimens of the genus Spicu-loptenagia were recovered from all five ofthe nontreated, control animals (mean in-tensity = 88; range = 60 to 140). Identi-fication of females was limited to the ge-neric level because morphologicalattributes at the species level have not beenadequately described (E. P. Hoberg, un-pub!. data). Based on identification of malenematodes (Skrjabin et a!., 1954), 5. spicu-loptera was found in one of the five (in-tensity = 40) while S. asymmetnica wasfound in three of the five control animals(mean intensity = 26; range = 20 to 40).Mixed species infections were not ob-served. Specimens of Spiculoptenagia werenot recovered from animals of the treat-ment group. Representative specimenshave been deposited in the United StatesNational Helminth Collection, Numbers82742 and 82743.The history and geographic distributionof Spiculopteragia spp. in North Americais not completely understood. The first re-port of S. spiculoptera was from white-tailed deer on Anticosti Island, Quebec,Canada; however, the origin of this par-asite on the island has not been clarified(Doster and Friend, 1971). It is postulatedthat nematodes were introduced withwhite-tailed deer, stocked on the island inthe 1890’s, or that S. spiculoptera was latertranslocated with elk, moose or bison (Bi-son bison). More recently, Fruete! andLankester (1989) reported S. spiculopterafrom captive woodland caribou at the Ka-kabeka Falls Game Farm in Ontario, Can-ada. The caribou were known to use com-mon pastures with moose, white-taileddeer, sika deer, fallow deer, cattle and lla-mas, some of which are considered to betypical hosts of S. spiculoptera in the Pa-514 JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE DISEASES, VOL. 29, NO. 3. JULY 1993learctic (Drozdz, 1965, 1966). Although thisspecies had been reported from reindeerin Sweden, it had not been known fromcaribou in North America (Fruetel andLankester, 1989). Thus the known distri-bution of S. spiculoptera in North Americaincludes foci in eastern Canada and in Tex-as.The first report of S. asymmetnica in theUnited States was from fallow deer on Lit-t!e St. Simons Island, Georgia (USA) (Dos-ter and Friend, 1971). Subsequent recordswere from fallow deer from Kentucky(USA) (Davidson et at., 1985) and Texas(T. M. Craig, unpubl. data) and captivewoodland caribou (the first report fromRangifer tarandus) at the Kakabeka FallsGame Farm (Fruetel and Lankester, 1989).However S. asymmetnica has not been re-ported from white-tailed deer or other cer-vids and bovids sympatric with fallow deeror caribou at these localities. Thus theknown geographic distribution of S. asym-metrica in North America includes a fewspecific localities in eastern Canada andthe United States. Such a range would becompatible with the contention by David-son et a!. (1985) that this ostertagiine hadbeen introduced to North America withfallow deer of European origin.The origin of these species of Spiculop-teragia or when they were introduced ontothe ranch in Texas cannot be determined.However, it is likely they were importedwith the red deer which originally stockedthe farm or those added later to supple-ment the existing herd. This contention issupported by previous studies of endemiccervids and domestic bovids in Texas(Craig, 1979; Gray et at., 1978; Foreyt andSamuel, 1980; Waid et at., 1985; Stubble-field et a!., 1987; Craig et al., 1988) as wellas detailed studies of the parasites of bothwhite-tailed and black-tailed deer (Odo-coileus hemionus) in North America(Walker and Becklund, 1970; Hoberg etat., 1993) in which neither species of Spi-culopteragia were found.Although the known distributions of S.spiculoptera and S. asymmetrica in NorthAmerica appear to be focal, the actual dis-tribution likely coincides with areas of res-idence of introduced populations of reddeer and fallow deer in the Nearctic. Thecurrently restricted distribution of both os-tertagiines in the United States and Can-ada appear to coincide with a history ofimportation of definitive cervid hosts fromEurope or New Zealand. The significanceof transport of infected stock in the dis-semination of helminthic parasites is fur-ther illustrated by the distribution of Spic-ulopteragia spp. among exotic cervids inNew Zealand and Argentina (Andrews,1973; Suarez et a!., 1991). Additionally, thepresence of these nematodes in red deerborn in Texas indicates the apparent easewith which some parasites, particularlythose with direct life cycles, become es-tablished in new geographic regions (Sua-rez and Cabaret, 1991). Thus the currentreport emphasizes the need for surveil-lance and control of parasites among exoticcervids and bovids as a means of prevent-ing the introduction, establishment andspread of allocthonous helminths.LITERATURE CITEDANDREWS, J. H. H. 1973. A host-parasite checklistof helminths of wild ruminants in New Zealand.New Zealand Veterinary Journal 21: 43-47.CRAIG, T. M. 1979. Seasonal transmission of bovinegastrointestinal nematodes in the Texas GulfCoast. Journal of the American Veterinary Med-ical Association 174: 844-847.R. W. FIELD, AND C. P. Hupp. 1988. Useof the sustained-release morantel bolus in stockercalves in southern United States. American Jour-nal of Veterinary Research 49: 1729-1732.DAVIDSON, W. H., J. M. CRUM, J. L. BLUE, D. W.SHARP, AND J. H. PHILLIPS. 1985. Parasites,diseases, and health status of sympatric popula-tions of fallow deer and white-tailed deer in Ken-tucky. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 21: 153-159.DOSTER, C. L., AND M. FRIEND. 1971. Spiculop-teragia (Nematoda) from deer in North America.The Journal of Parasitology 57: 468.DROZDZ, J. 1965. Studies on the helminths and hel-minthiases in Cervidae I. Hevision of the sub-family Ostertagiinae Sarwar, 1956 and an at-tempt to explain the phylogenesis of itsrepresentatives. Acta Parasitologica Polonica 13:445-481.1966. Studies on helminths and helmin-SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 515Received for publication 6 November 1992.thiases in Cervidae II. The helminth fauna inCervidae in Poland. Acta Parasitologica Polonica14: 1-13.1967. Studies on the helminths and hel-minthiases in Cervidae III. Historical formationof the helminthofauna in Cervidae. Acta Parasi-tologica Polonica 14: 287-300.FOREYT, W. J. 1990. Veterinary parasitology ref-erence manual, 2nd ed. Washington State Uni-versity, Pullman, Washington, 165 pp.AND W. M. SAMUEL. 1980. Parasites ofwhite-tailed deer of the Welder Wildlife Refugein southern Texas: A review. Proceedings of theFirst Welder Wildlife Foundation Symposium 1:105-132.FRUETEL, M., AND M. W. LANKESTER. 1989. Gas-trointestinal helminths of woodland and barrenground caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in Canada,with keys to species. Canadian Journal of Zoology67: 2253-2269.GRAY, C. C., D. B. PENCE, AND C. D. SIMPSON. 1978.Helminths of sympatric Barbary sheep and muledeer in the Texas panhandle. Proceedings of theHelminthological Society of Washington 45: 139-141.HOBERG, E. P., J. R. LICHTENFELS, AND P. A. PILIrF.1993. Comparative morphology of Ostertagiamossi (Trichostrongylidae) from Odocoileus yin-ginianus and comments on other Ostertagia spp.from the Cervidae. Systematic Parasitology 24:111-127.JANSEN, J. 1959. Auchenia glama and Antilope cer-vwapra, new hosts for some Trichostrongylidae.The Journal of Parasitology 45: 509.1976. On the helminth fauna of the mouf-lon (Ovis aries musirnon) compared with thoseof domestic sheep (Ovis aries dom.) and deer(Capreolus capreolus, Cervus elaphus) in theNetherlands. In Wildlife diseases, L. A. Page,(ed). Plenum Publishing Corporation, New York,New York, pp. 589-596.MCKENZIE, H. A., P. E. GREEN, A. M. THORNTON,Y. S. CHUNG, A. H. MACKENZIE, D. H. CYBINSKI,AND T. D. ST. GEORGE. 1985. Diseases of deerin south eastern Queensland. Australian Veteri-nary Journal 62: 424.SKRJABIN, K. I., N. P. SHIKHOBALOVA, AND H. S.SHUL’TS. 1954. Essentials of nematodology, Vol.III. Trichostrongylids of animals and man(Translated by the Israel Program for ScientificTranslations, 1960). The Academy of Sciences ofthe USSR, Moscow, USSR, 680 pp.STUBBLEFIELD, S. S., D. B. PENCE, AND R. J. WARREN.1987. Visceral helminth communities of sym-patric mule and white-tailed deer from the DavisMountains of Texas. Journal of Wildlife Diseases23: 113-120.SUAREZ, V. H., AND J. CABARET. 1991. Similaritiesbetween species of the Ostertagiinae (Nematoda:Trichostrongyloidea) in relation to host-specific-ity and climatic environment. Systematic Para-sitology 20: 179-185.M. H. BUSETTI, M. C. FORT, AND D. 0.BEDOTTI. 1991. Spiculopteragia spiculoptera,S. asymmetnica and Ostertagia leptospiculanisfrom Cenvus elaphus in La Pampa, Argentina.Veterinary Parasitology 40: 165-168.WAID, D. D., D. B. PENCE, AND H. J. WARREN. 1985.Effects of season and physical condition on thegastrointestinal helminth community of white-tailed deer from the Texas Edwards Plateau.Journal of Wildlife Diseases 21: 264-273.WALKER, M. L., AND W. W. BECKLUND. 1970.Checklist of the internal and external parasitesof deer, Odocoileus hemionus and Odocoileusvirginianus in the United States and Canada.Special Publication 1. Index Catalogue of Med-ical and Veterinary Zoology. United States De-partment of Agriculture, Agricultural ResearchService, United States Printing Office, Washing-ton, DC, 45 pp.WARE, F. 1925. On a nematode of the genus Os-tertagia. Journal of Comparative Pathology 38:38-42.

\u3ci\u3eSpiculopteragia spiculoptera\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eS. asymmetrica\u3c/i\u3e (Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) from Red Deer (\u3ci\u3eCervus elaphus\u3c/i\u3e) in Texas

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University of Nebraska - Lincoln
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Faculty Publications from the Harold W. Manter
Laboratory of Parasitology Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of
1993
Spiculopteragia spiculoptera and S. asymmetrica
(Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) from Red Deer
(Cervus elaphus) in Texas
Lora G. Rickard
Oregon State University
Eric P. Hoberg
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, geocolonizer@gmail.com
Nancy M. Allen
Oregon State University
Gary L. Zimmerman
Oregon State University
Thomas M. Craig
Texas A & M University - College Station
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/parasitologyfacpubs
Part of the Biodiversity Commons, Parasitology Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Commons, and the Zoology Commons
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of at DigitalCommons@University of
Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications from the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology by an authorized
administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.
Rickard, Lora G.; Hoberg, Eric P.; Allen, Nancy M.; Zimmerman, Gary L.; and Craig, Thomas M., "Spiculopteragia spiculoptera and S.
asymmetrica (Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) from Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) in Texas" (1993). Faculty Publications from the Harold
W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology. 782.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/parasitologyfacpubs/782
Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 29(3). 1993, pp. 512-515
 Wildlife Disease Association 1993
512
Spiculopteragia spiculoptera and S. asymmetnca
(Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) from Red Deer
(Cervus elaphus) in Texas
Lora G. Rlckard,’4 Eric P. Hoberg,2 Nancy M. Allen,’ Gary L Zimmerman,’ and Thomas M. Craig,3 ‘College
of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA; 2 USDA, ARS, BARC East-1180,
Beltsville, Maryland 20705, USA; 3College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843,
USA. Present address: College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi
39762, USA
ABSTRACT: Specimens of Spiculopteragia spic-
uloptera and S. asymn2etnica were recovered
from the abomasa of five of ten naturally in-
fected red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Texas (USA).
Female specimens of Spiculopteragia were
present in all five animals. Male specimens of
S. spiculoptera and S. asymmetnica were pres-
ent in one of five and three of five red deer,
respectively. Spiculopteragia spiculoptera has
not previously been recognized in the United
States and the present report constitutes the first
records of Spiculopteragia spp. in red deer from
North America. It is likely that species of Spicu-
lopteragia have been introduced to North
America with the import of exotic cervids on
several occasions. Focal populations of these
nematodes have been established in North
America; however, distribution of the parasites
likely coincides with areas of residence of in-
troduced populations of red deer and fallow
deer (Cervus darna) in the Nearctic.
Key words: Parasites, Spiculoptenagia spic-
uloptera, Spiculopteragia asymmetrica, Cervus
elaphus, red deer, Trichostrongyloidea, Nem-
atoda.
Spiculoptenagia spiculoptera (=S. boh-
mi) and Spiculoptenagia asymmetnica are
gastrointestinal nematodes frequently
found in the abomasa of cervids but less
often among some domestic and sylvatic
bovids and camelids primarily in the Pa-
learctic and Eurasia (Jansen, 1959; Drozdz,
1966; Suarez and Cabaret, 1991). Spicu-
lopteragia spiculoptera has been reported
from cervids including red deer (but not
wapiti) (Cervus elaphus), sika deer (Cer-
vus nippon), fallow deer (Cervus dama),
sambar deer (Cenvus unicolor), roe deer
(Capreolus capreolus), caribou/reindeer
(Rangifer tarandus), moose (Alces alces),
and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virgi-
nianus). Bovid hosts include tahr (Hemi-
tragus jemiahicus), chamois (Rupicapna
rupicapra), mouflon (Ovis musimon), do-
mestic sheep (Ovis aries), domestic goats
(Capra hircus), and domestic cattle (Bos
taurus), while camelid hosts are restricted
to a single report from a llama (Larna gla-
ma) (Jansen, 1959, 1976; Drozdz, 1966;
Doster and Friend, 1971; Andrews, 1973;
Fruetel and Lankester, 1989; Suarez and
Cabaret, 1991). Spiculoptenagia asym-
metnica has a similar host distribution pri-
marily among cervids including red deer,
sika deer, fallow deer, roe deer, caribou/
reindeer, moose, and white-tailed deer. It
is rare in bovids and camelids, having been
recorded only from chamois, sheep and a
llama (Ware, 1925; Jansen, 1959, 1976;
Drozdz, 1966; Doster and Friend, 1971;
Andrews, 1973; Fruetel and Lankester,
1989; Suarez and Cabaret, 1991).
The historical geographic range of both
species of Spiculoptenagia considered
herein, apparently includes the Palearctic
and Eurasia; however, the current geo-
graphic range has expanded through trans-
location of infected hosts. Consequently,
S. spiculoptera has become established in
New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina and
S. asymmetrica in New Zealand, the Unit-
ed States, and Argentina (Drozdz, 1965,
1966, 1967; Doster and Friend, 1971; An-
drews, 1973; McKenzie et a!., 1985; Frue-
tel and Lankester, 1989; Suarez et a!., 1991).
In this report of S. spiculoptera and S.
asymmetrica from red deer on a game
farm in Texas (USA), we present both a
new locality record (S. spiculoptera) and
host record (both species) in North Amer-
ica; these may be linked to introductions
of red deer from Europe or New Zealand
during the period from 1930 to 1989.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 513
Specimens of S. spiculoptera and S.
asymmetnica were recovered from the ab-
omasa of weanling red deer during an
anthelmintic trial in which we applied Ivo-
mec (MSD-Agvet, Rahway, New Jersey,
USA) at 500 pg/kg along the dorsal mid-
line according to the manufacturer’s in-
structions. The animals were born and
raised on a commercial game farm near
Bellville, Texas (29#{176}57’N; 96#{176}17’W) that was
previously a cattle ranch but had been con-
verted to a red deer farm in the late 1980’s.
The red deer used were offspring of ani-
mals that were either imported from New
Zealand in 1989 or were from a hunting
preserve in Texas. This hunting preserve
had been established in the 1930’s and con-
tained. in addition to red deer, numerous
species of African hoofed stock and Eu-
ropean fallow deer. The population of red
deer on the game farm was further sup-
plemented by importation of red deer from
New Zealand, Canada, and England in
1988 and 1989. The red deer used in the
study grazed pastures with a history of use
by all the imported red deer as well as
those from the hunting preserve.
Prior to initiation of the anthelmintic
trial, the weanling red deer had received
routine health care but had not received
any anthelmintic treatments while on the
farm. After weaning, animals were trans-
ported from the point of origin to indoor
housing facilities at the College of Veter-
inary Medicine, Texas A&M University,
College Station, Texas. Upon arrival, fecal
examinations (Foreyt, 1990) were used to
confirm that all animals were passing
strongyle-type nematode eggs. For pur-
poses of the trial, naturally acquired in-
fections were supplemented by adminis-
tering third-stage larvae of Dictyocaulus
spp. (n = 2,000 larvae), Tnichostrongylus
axei (n = 15,000), Ostentagia spp. (n =
15,000), Coopenia oncophora (n = 7,500),
Coopenia punctata (n = 7,500), and Hae-
monchus contortus (n = 5,000) to each
deer. The larvae for each deer were com-
bined and injected intrarumina!ly into the
left side of the animal using a 35 ml syringe
and 16 gauge needle. Ten red deer were
randomly allocated into two groups (treat-
ment and control) of five animals each.
Animals from both groups were eutha-
nized (Cash Stun Gun, Accles & Shelvoke
Ltd., Aston, Birmingham, England) and
necropsied 14 or 15 days after anthelmin-
tic treatment.
Female specimens of the genus Spicu-
loptenagia were recovered from all five of
the nontreated, control animals (mean in-
tensity = 88; range = 60 to 140). Identi-
fication of females was limited to the ge-
neric level because morphological
attributes at the species level have not been
adequately described (E. P. Hoberg, un-
pub!. data). Based on identification of male
nematodes (Skrjabin et a!., 1954), 5. spicu-
loptera was found in one of the five (in-
tensity = 40) while S. asymmetnica was
found in three of the five control animals
(mean intensity = 26; range = 20 to 40).
Mixed species infections were not ob-
served. Specimens of Spiculoptenagia were
not recovered from animals of the treat-
ment group. Representative specimens
have been deposited in the United States
National Helminth Collection, Numbers
82742 and 82743.
The history and geographic distribution
of Spiculopteragia spp. in North America
is not completely understood. The first re-
port of S. spiculoptera was from white-
tailed deer on Anticosti Island, Quebec,
Canada; however, the origin of this par-
asite on the island has not been clarified
(Doster and Friend, 1971). It is postulated
that nematodes were introduced with
white-tailed deer, stocked on the island in
the 1890’s, or that S. spiculoptera was later
translocated with elk, moose or bison (Bi-
son bison). More recently, Fruete! and
Lankester (1989) reported S. spiculoptera
from captive woodland caribou at the Ka-
kabeka Falls Game Farm in Ontario, Can-
ada. The caribou were known to use com-
mon pastures with moose, white-tailed
deer, sika deer, fallow deer, cattle and lla-
mas, some of which are considered to be
typical hosts of S. spiculoptera in the Pa-
514 JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE DISEASES, VOL. 29, NO. 3. JULY 1993
learctic (Drozdz, 1965, 1966). Although this
species had been reported from reindeer
in Sweden, it had not been known from
caribou in North America (Fruetel and
Lankester, 1989). Thus the known distri-
bution of S. spiculoptera in North America
includes foci in eastern Canada and in Tex-
as.
The first report of S. asymmetnica in the
United States was from fallow deer on Lit-
t!e St. Simons Island, Georgia (USA) (Dos-
ter and Friend, 1971). Subsequent records
were from fallow deer from Kentucky
(USA) (Davidson et at., 1985) and Texas
(T. M. Craig, unpubl. data) and captive
woodland caribou (the first report from
Rangifer tarandus) at the Kakabeka Falls
Game Farm (Fruetel and Lankester, 1989).
However S. asymmetnica has not been re-
ported from white-tailed deer or other cer-
vids and bovids sympatric with fallow deer
or caribou at these localities. Thus the
known geographic distribution of S. asym-
metrica in North America includes a few
specific localities in eastern Canada and
the United States. Such a range would be
compatible with the contention by David-
son et a!. (1985) that this ostertagiine had
been introduced to North America with
fallow deer of European origin.
The origin of these species of Spiculop-
teragia or when they were introduced onto
the ranch in Texas cannot be determined.
However, it is likely they were imported
with the red deer which originally stocked
the farm or those added later to supple-
ment the existing herd. This contention is
supported by previous studies of endemic
cervids and domestic bovids in Texas
(Craig, 1979; Gray et at., 1978; Foreyt and
Samuel, 1980; Waid et at., 1985; Stubble-
field et a!., 1987; Craig et al., 1988) as well
as detailed studies of the parasites of both
white-tailed and black-tailed deer (Odo-
coileus hemionus) in North America
(Walker and Becklund, 1970; Hoberg et
at., 1993) in which neither species of Spi-
culopteragia were found.
Although the known distributions of S.
spiculoptera and S. asymmetrica in North
America appear to be focal, the actual dis-
tribution likely coincides with areas of res-
idence of introduced populations of red
deer and fallow deer in the Nearctic. The
currently restricted distribution of both os-
tertagiines in the United States and Can-
ada appear to coincide with a history of
importation of definitive cervid hosts from
Europe or New Zealand. The significance
of transport of infected stock in the dis-
semination of helminthic parasites is fur-
ther illustrated by the distribution of Spic-
ulopteragia spp. among exotic cervids in
New Zealand and Argentina (Andrews,
1973; Suarez et a!., 1991). Additionally, the
presence of these nematodes in red deer
born in Texas indicates the apparent ease
with which some parasites, particularly
those with direct life cycles, become es-
tablished in new geographic regions (Sua-
rez and Cabaret, 1991). Thus the current
report emphasizes the need for surveil-
lance and control of parasites among exotic
cervids and bovids as a means of prevent-
ing the introduction, establishment and
spread of allocthonous helminths.
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\u3ci\u3eSpiculopteragia spiculoptera\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eS. asymmetrica\u3c/i\u3e (Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) from Red Deer (\u3ci\u3eCervus elaphus\u3c/i\u3e) in Texas

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