Helminth Parasites of Golden Shiner Notemigonus crysoleucas (Pisces: Cyprinidae) from Ontario and Nova Scotia, Canada

Helminth parasite communities of golden shiner Notemigonus crysoleucas (Pisces: Cyprinidae) were characterized in north central (Lake Opeongo, Ontario, Canada) and far eastern (Vinegar Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada) localities within its natural range. Membership included 9 generalists (Allocreadium lobatum, Clinostomum complanatum, Apophallus brevis, Pliovitellaria wisconsinensis, Proteocephalus sp., Rhabdochona cascadilla, Camallanus oxycephalus, an unidentified nematode, and Pomphorhynchus bulbocolli) and 6 specialists (Octomacrum microconfibula, Dactylogyrus parvicirrus, Gyrodactylus sp., Phyllodistomum sp., Paradilepis sp. A, and Paradilepis sp. B). Infracommunity richness was 2.6 +/- 1.2 in Ontario and 1.0 +/- 0.8 in Nova Scotia. Component community richness was 13 in Ontario and 6 in Nova Scotia. The two helminth communities were made up of similar proportions of generalists and specialists. We suggest that comparable studies on the helminth communities of golden shiner from similar lakes more central in this host's North American range could examine whether there is decay in richness particularly when approaching the periphery of a host's range. This is the first report of helminth parasites from N. crysoleucas in Nova Scotia.