Aquatic Invasions (2012) Volume 7, Issue 4: 443–453 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3391/ai.2012.7.4.001 Open Access © 2012 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2012 REABIC Review On the origin of Anguillicoloides crassus, the invasive nematode of anguillid eels François Lefebvre1*, Sébastien Wielgoss2, Kazuya Nagasawa3 and František Moravec4 1 Independent researcher, 47 rue des Trois Rois, 86000 Poitiers, France (scientific associate of the Natural History Museum, London, UK; and the Tour du Valat station, Arles, France) 2 Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland 3 Laboratory of Aquaculture, Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University, 1-4-4 Kagamiyama, Higashi- Hiroshima 739-8528, Japan 4 Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic E-mail:
[email protected] (FL),
[email protected] (SW),
[email protected] (KN),
[email protected] (FM) *Corresponding author Received: 27 November 2011 / Accepted: 2 July 2012 / Published online: 2 August 2012 Handling editor: Dan Minchin, MOI, Ireland Abstract The nematode Anguillicoloides crassus is one of the many threats hanging over anguillid eels, now known to infect six Anguilla species worldwide. It was first described in Japan, in 1974, and is commonly thought to natively stem from East Asia. Here our primary objective was to critically evaluate this long-held statement. We first retraced the factual history of this global invader, to later investigate the pros and cons for an East Asian origin. After exploring the alternative scenarios for the joint origin of the two anguillicolid parasites occurring in this area, we concluded that the geographic zone covering the natural range of the local eel A.