A biological study of intestinal helminths infecting elasmobranchs from the West Isles of the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick /

In the summer of 1997, 217 fishes of different species (Raja erinacea, R. radiata, R. ocellata, Malacoraja senta, and Squalus acanthias) were collected from the West Isles of the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick.Parasites belonging to 13 species were found: 10 Cestoda; 2 Nematoda; and 1 Acanthocephala. Of the 10 cestodes, five are described as new species. The remaining five re-described in detail and compared to similar worms reported in the literature. None of the eight tetraphyllidean cestodes was found in more than one host species, thereby supporting current dogma that the Tetraphyllidea are species specific with respect to their definitive hosts.There is a close relationship between the topography of the spiral-valve mucosa of the preferred attachment-site and that of the inner-bothridial tegument. This provides further evidence supporting the strict morphological specificity proposed by Williams (1960)