Demersal fish parasite fauna around the South Shetland Islands: high species richness and low host specificity in deep Antarctic waters |
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Authors: | Harry W Palm Sven Klimpel Thorsten Walter |
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Institution: | 1.Institute of Zoomorphology, Cell Biology and Parasitology,Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf,Düsseldorf,Germany;2.Lübeck,Germany |
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Abstract: | A total of nine Antarctic fish species belonging to five families were examined for their endohelminth parasite fauna. The
fishes Parachaenichthys charcoti (Bathydraconidae), Chaenocephalus aceratus (Channichtyidae), Paradiplospinus gracilis (Gempylidae), Muraenolepis microps (Muraenolepididae), Gobionotothen gibberifrons, Lepidonotothen larseni, L. nudifrons, L. squamifrons, and Trematomus eulepidopus (Nototheniidae) were caught between 80 and 608 m trawling depth off the Antarctic Peninsula (Elephant Island, King George
Island) in 1996. Nineteen different parasites species comprising five Digenea, two Cestoda, four Nematoda, and eight Acanthocephala
were found. Pseudophyllidean cestodes, the nematodes Contracaecum radiatum and C. osculatum as well as the acanthocephalan Corynosoma bullosum were the most common, infesting eight of the fish species studied with prevalences reaching 100%. Pseudoterranova decipiens
s.l. was the only parasite that was isolated from all studied fish species; however, at a lower intensity. The observed parasite
host specificity was low, and the species richness in a single fish ranged from one to eleven in a C. aceratus. This icefish and the moray cod M. microps were the most heavily infested fish, harbouring many adult and larval parasitic stages. The benthodemersal P. gracilis had only two larval parasite species, while the nototheniids had very similar parasite communities, harbouring a total of
8–14 species. Larval mammalian parasites were found to utilize fish, especially the nototheniids and channichthyids, as a
common transmission route into their final hosts. The fish parasites parallel explored different benthic host systems to reach
the most suitable host. In contrast to the coast and continental shelf, the meso/bathypelagiac zone appears to be species
poor and is inhabited by few larval forms. The fish parasite fauna off the South Shetland Islands can be characterized by
generalistic parasites that distribute within Antarctic waters according to the feeding ecology and depth range of their teleost
hosts, not only horizontally but also extending vertically into the deep sea. |
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Keywords: | Antarctic fishes Distribution Endemic parasites Cosmopolitan parasites Generalist Parasite diversity Host specificity South Shetland Islands Transmission Zoogeography Food web |
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