European eel parasites, in particular invasive species, are suspected to have a strong influence on the population dynamics of their host. The aim of this work was to study the relationship between parasitic fauna of yellow eels caught at Salses-Leucate lagoon and the fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of some functional bilateral traits: pectoral fins, eyes and otoliths. Epidemiological distance matrices and FA distance matrices were calculated on the basis of the Euclidian distances between each pair of eel and were then compared with a Mantel test in order to establish if there was a relationship between parasitism and FA. Our results revealed different morphological characteristics between eels caught at different dates; only otoliths were found asymmetric. The parasite richness was of 10 species, 1 Nematoda, 1 Acanthocephala, 1 Monogenea and 7 Digenea. We failed to find a significant relationship between asymmetry and parasitism, except for parasites found in the stomach. We discussed the results in the light of the eel life cycle, the specificity of parasite -eel systems and the impact of parasites on the host physiology.
Key-words:Parasites, eels, fluctuating asymmetry, distance matrices, SalsesLeucate lagoon.
COMMUNAUTÉ DES MACROPARASITES ET ASYMÉTRIE CHEZ L'ANGUILLE JAUNE ANGUILLA ANGUILLA DANS LA LAGUNE DE SALSES-LEUCATE, SUD DE LA FRANCE RÉSUMÉLes parasites de l'anguille européenne, en particulier les espèces invasives, sont supposés avoir une grande influence sur la dynamique des populations de leur hôte. Ce travail se propose d'étudier la relation entre la faune parasitaire d'anguilles jaunes prélevées dans la lagune de Salses-Leucate et l'asymétrie fluctuante (FA) de traits bilatéraux fonctionnels : les nageoires pectorales, les yeux et les otolithes. Des matrices de distance épidémiologique ainsi que des matrices de distance de FA ont été calculées sur la base des distances euclidiennes entre anguilles prises deux à deux et ont ensuite été comparées par un test de Mantel afin d'établir s'il existait une relation entre elles. Nos