Short communication: Morphological and genetic characterisation of selected Contracaecum (Nematoda: Anisakidae) larvae in Iran

In their life cycle, Contracaecum spp infect marine mammals and piscivorous birds as definitive hosts and crustaceans and a wide range of fish species as their intermediate hosts (Anderson, 2000). Humans can accidentally be infected with larval stages of these nematodes, leading to a sever disease generally known as anisakidosis (Shamsi and Butcher, 2011). The disease now is considered as an emergence zoonotic disease and therefore, these parasites attracted attention of scientists in different parts of the world and various aspects of their biology and lifecycle is being investigated (Audicana et al., 2002; Nadler et al., 2005; D'Amelio et al., 2007; Shamsi et al., 2008; Shamsi et al., 2009a, b).