Parasite communities in European eels Anguilla anguilla (pisces, teleostei) from a corsican coastal pond

A parasite community study of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) was realized in Urbino pond (Corsica). A preliminary description allows to distinguish five parasite species belonging to the two classes, Nematoda and Trematoda, and to note the absence of ectoparasites. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and a correlation analysis test highlight a positive correlation between the host size and the parasite number. This relation is true for studied parasites except for Anguillicola crassus. This Nematoda presents a negative correlation with host size, probably caused by food behaviour of the young eels. In our study, an opposition between Nematoda and Digenea also seems to occur. The parasite diversity of the eels from Urbino pond is weak. The parasite studies undertaken in other European lagoons and even in Corsica show higher parasitic loads and diversity.