Fishes and their parasites in the water district of Massaciuccoli (Tuscany, Central Italy).

This study has been conducted in the district of Massaciuccoli (lake, marsh and reclaimed areas with drainage channels) in Tuscany region (Central Italy). The aim of the research was to detect the presence of parasites in fishes, in particular of Opisthorchis felineus, which causes an important zoonosis. Between 2010-2012, the health status of 381 fishes was monitored, morphometric characteristics were determined, and parasites were searched for and identified. Of the 381 examined fishes, 189 were free of parasites while 192 were infected, among them 91 presented multiple infections. Opisthorchis felineus was not found in any of the examined fishes.

Calodium hepaticum (Nematoda: Capillaridae) in a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Italy with scanning electron microscopy of the eggs.

Calodium hepaticum (Bancroft, 1893) Moravec, 1982 (syn. Capillaria hepatica) is a cosmopolitan capillariid nematode, infecting mainly rodents and occasionally other mammals, including humans. Reports of C. hepaticum in canids are rare and the present one is, to the best of our knowledge, the first reported case in a red fox (Vulpes vulpes Linnaeus) in Italy. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination of the eggs of C. hepaticum allowed a precise description of the egg morphology, which is one of the most relevant specific characteristics of capillariid nematodes. The egg shell showed a fibrous beam-like network which differs from that of the eggs of closely related trichinelloid species. This characteristic can be useful especially in case of spurious infection, when misdiagnosis among different trichinelloids species can occur.