Clinostomum marginatum (Digenea: Clinostomidae) from Fishes of Crooked Creek, Boone and Marion Counties, Arkansas

Abstract

Crooked Creek is a renowned trophy (blue ribbon) Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) fishing stream. This fish, however, has been previously reported to commonly harbor some of the highest population densities of the digenean trematode parasite, Clinostomum marginatum, otherwise known as “yellow grub”. The parasite infects the orobranchial cavity, gills, and peritoneal cavity of Smallmouth Bass. Historical studies on this fish over the last 3 decades or more from various sites on the creek have shown that M. dolomieu also have high mean abundances but fish from upstream sites had lower prevalence than those collected from downstream sites. Here, we survey several fishes from the creek for C. marginatum as well as compare our data on M. dolomieu to some of the previous studies conducted on the same species from the watershed. In addition, a new host record for C. marginatum is documented in the Ozark Bass, Ambloplites constellatus.