Abstract
Extract
Sir, Little has been recorded of the parasites of waterfowl, wild or domesticated in New Zealand (Rind Citation1974). The nematodes of New Zealand waterfowl appear quite unknown. Recently Mrs Rind gave me part of the anterior alimentary canal of a grey duck (Anas superciliosa) that had been shot a few days earlier (November 8, 1976) at Omihi, North Canterbury. She drew my attention to a nodule in the proventriculus wall about 2 cm anterior to the gizzard. When opened, this fibrous granuloma was found to contain six male and 12 female nematodes each about 1–1.5 cm long. Another grey duck from Irwell, Canterbury shot on June 1, 1974 contained 25 female and 12 male Echinuria. Using the keys in Ali (Citation1968) and McDonald (1974) the nematodes were identified as Echinuria uncinata (Rudolphi 1819) (synonyms: teste Yamaguti (Citation1961) include E. jugadornata (Soloviev, 1912) and teste McDonald (Citation1969) E. cygni (Morini, Columba and Martin, Citation1960). The identification was confirmed by reference to descriptions and figures in a variety of publications.