A merganser die-off associated with larval eustrongylides

A die-off of red-breasted mergansers on Lake Holly, Virginia Beach, Virginia, was found to be due to a larval Eustrongylides. Massive tissue destruction and hemorrhage was produced by the migration of the larval Eustrongylides. Earlier stages of the same Eustrongylides were found in eastern mosquitofish and silversides upon which the mergansers had been feeding. In addition, residues of DDT were found in mosquitofish, gizzard shad, and five mergansers collected from Lake Holly, and in the tissues of two mergansers from Back Bay, Virginia. However, the information available was insufficient to establish the significance of these residue levels.