Rapid counting of nematoda in salmon by peptic digestion

The nematode parasite Anisakis sp. can be recovered, relatively unaltered, from chum salmon musculature by high temperature (52°+2°C.) peptic digestion of the flesh. The procedure, which is presented in detail, appears to be more thorough in isolating the parasite than dissection of the flesh and manual isolation of the worms. In addition, the procedure is rapid, comparatively simple, economical, and suitable for the examination of large numbers of samples.

The population of Anisakis sp., larvae in chum salmon appears to be concentrated in the ventral section of the fish, that is, below the lateral line, which ಟ್ಗ that only the ventral quarters of the fish need to be examined for estimating infection intensity.