Parasitofauna of notothenioid fish from Prince Gustav Channel, Weddell Sea, Antarctica – expedition 2014
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| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | Antarctica with its unique ecosystems is one of the last places on Earth that still remains almost untouched. Investigating of these areas still brings new information. During the Czech Antarctic expedition 2014 field research was carried out to study metazoan parasites of notothenioid fish from Prince Gustav Channel. Fish belonging to suborder Notothenioidei are largely found in the Southern Ocean and off the coast of Antarctica. As the dominant Antarctic fish taxa, they occupy both sea-bottom and water-column ecological niches. In total 102 specimens of six fish species mostly belonging to the family Notothenioidae (Trematomus hansoni, T. bernacchii, T. newnesi, Notothenia coriiceps, Pagothenia borchgrevinki and Parachaenichthys charcoti) were examined for parasites from January to March 2014. The fish were caught with gill nets and fish rods in the Prince Gustav Channel (depth about 5–25 m) in front of the Johann Gregor Mendel Station on the James Ross Island. More than 7700 metazoan parasites (mostly Nematoda, Acanthocephala and Monogenea) were found. The spatial distribution on fish gills of more than one thousand monogenean individuals (family Gyrodactylidae, Dactylogyridae and Capsalidae) was determined. Mean overall parasite abundance across the host species was 76. The most parasitized host was Notothenia coriiceps with the prevalence of 100 % and the mean parasite abundance of 117. Also the maximum abundance (565) was observed in Notothenia coriiceps. The fish were heavily infected with nematodes (mean abundance 37, prevalence 97 %). The prevalence of Corynosoma spp. (Acanthocephala) ranged from 39% in T. newnesi to 100% in N.coriiceps. The differences in the composition and quantity of parasites probably correspond to the different ecological niche of each fish species. |
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