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Updated: Jul 7, 2026
Handling and Treatment of Male European Eels (Anguilla anguilla) for Hormonal Maturation and Sperm Cryopreservation
Published on: January 28, 2018
Migratory response of European eel (Anguilla anguilla) phagocytes to the eel swimbladder nematode Anguillicola
K Knopf1, A Madriles Helm, R Lucius
1Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany, klaus.knopf@igb-berlin.de
Abstract:
The migratory response of peripheral blood granulocytes and monocytes from the European eel Anguilla anguilla (L.) to infective larvae of the swimbladder nematode Anguillicola crassus Kuwahara, Niimi and Hagaki, 1974 was examined by means of light microscopical histology and with an in vitro assay using a modified Boyden chamber. Histological examination of experimentally infected eels revealed that, already 8 days postinfection, an infiltration of inflammatory cells around L3 of A. crassus in the swimbladder tissue can occur. In the Boyden chamber, in presence of infective larvae of A. crassus (L3), neutrophil granulocytes and monocytes showed a higher migration activity than in the absence of L3. In conclusion, infection of European eels with A. crassus leads to an activation of the defence cells resulting in an increased migration activity compared to uninfected eels.
