Practical laboratory work in parasitology can be very limited, due to the difficulty in maintaining multi-host
parasite life cycles, especially for a large, once-yearly undergraduate laboratory class for life science students.
The use of mackerel, Scomber scombrus, bought from a local fishmonger, is an ideal model to investigate important
parameters of infection with the nematode worm, Anisakis simplex. This simple experiment, involving
nothing more than measurements, dissection and observation, yields reliable data to demonstrate the principles
of the intensity, prevalence and overdispersion of infection, and allows statistical analysis of any variation in
these parameters in relation to the weight and sex of the fish host.

• Anisakis simplex infection in mackerel: a reliable laboratory exercise to demonstrate important principles in parasitology to undergraduates

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