This article considers how specificity patterns are shaped during the course of parasite evolution. Parasites are first and foremost specific to site, or microhabitat; host ranges are far more subject to change than is microhabitat. Specificity results from a number of convergent phenomena starting with habits (microhabitat and feeding styles) of free-living progenitors and the way in which the parasitic association arises (e.g., passive oral contamination as opposed to intrusive entry). These bias the types of interaction parasites have with the host, and, through this, the way specificity develops. Host ecology acts as an external factor affecting specificity and predominates in parasites that interact minimally with the hosts physiological and immune systems. Coevolutionary factors are more important in parasites that feed on host tissues or occur in extraintestinal sites. Here, parasites must present the right cues, and respond appropriately to the host defense system. The ability to generalize these cues and responses across host boundaries may act as a constraint on host range. The functional role of the host in the parasite life history also affects the degree of specificity; thus, parasites may act as host generalists in hosts that act as trophic channels to the final host. The role of competition in determining specificity is difficult to assess. However, competition has been reported to influence microhabitat and host distribution through interactive site selection and/or competitive seclusion.

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Loma salmonae (Putz, Hoffman and Dunbar, 1965) Morrison and Sprague, 1981 (Microsporidia) causes prominent gill disease in pen-reared chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in the Pacific Northwest. Transmission of the parasite was examined by exposing Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. to infectious spores by various routes: per OS, intraperitoneal, intramuscular, and intravascular injection, by cohabitation with infected fish, and by placement of spores directly on the gill. All exposure methods led to infections except placement of spores on the gill. Putative sporoplasms were visible in epithelial cells of the alimentary canal within 24 h of p e r os exposure. L. salmonae may initially infect alimentary epithelia1 cells and then migrate into the lamina propria to access the blood stream. Positive results obtained by intravascular injection suggest that autoinfec.tion from spores of ruptured xeno~nas in the endothelium may also occur. The cohab~tation cxpc!r~ment demonstr~ttes that flsh may become infected by spores released from live fish.

The Family Thelastomidae (Thelastomatoidea; Oxyurida; Nematoda) is revised, genera are diagnosed and a complete list of species is given. The following genera, normally classified in the family, are not included: Linstowiella Basir is considered a member of the Pharyngodonidae and perhaps a synonym of Pharyngodon Diesing; Klossinema Lal is considered a synonym of Cephalobellus Cobb; Schubartnema Kloss is considered a taxonomic chimaera, the male corresponding to Carnoya Gilson and the female probably to Binema Basir. Two new species are proposed: Gryllophila bainae and G. klossae for material assigned to G. skrjabini (Sergiev) by Bain (1965) and Kloss (1959) respectively. The following new synonyms are proposed: Blattellicola Basir and Blatellicoloides Farooqui synonyms of Blatticola Schwenck;

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