First Record of the Sinus Worm Skrjabingylus petrowi (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidea) in a Pine Marten Martes martes from Poland

Skrjabingylus spp. are nematodes that parasitize in the frontal and nasal sinuses of small mustelids. In Europe, the two species S. nasicola and S. petrowi are known, although records of S. petrowi are extremely rare, except in the former part of the USSR. The aim of the present study was to screen pine martens (Martes martes) from Poland for the first time for the presence of S. petrowi. Three road-killed pine martens were collected in 2018 and 2020 in the province Lower Silesian in southwestern Poland. A complete necropsy was performed on the fresh pine marten heads and especially the frontal sinuses and paranasal sinuses were examined for the presence of Skrjabingylus spp. The species identity of the recovered nematodes was determined by morphological measurements and genetic barcoding. One of three pine martens examined showed infection with 12 Skrjabingylus spp. in the right frontal sinus. Measurements of the spicule length of the males revealed a range of 480–521 µm which is characteristic of S. petrowi. There was a close match between the COI sequence reported here and of S. petrowi sequences reported from Germany. This is the first report of infection of a pine marten with the sinus worm S. petrowi in Poland.