Microhabitat distribution and coexistence of Microcotylidae (Monogenea) on the gills of the striped mullet Mugil cephalus  : chance or competition?

Abstract

The two monogenean species Metamicrocotyla cephalus and Microcotyle mugilis have specific microhabitats on the gills of Mugil cephalus on which they may or may not coexist. M. cephalus is found in sector 1 of the posterior hemibranch of arch I. M. mugilis is found on the filaments of sector 5 of the posterior hemibranch of arch I. The coexistence of these two monogenean species on the same fish does not induce a change in their respective distribution, except for a marked preference of M. cephalus for the left side and of M. mugilis for the right. This 15-month-long study shows that when the two species of monogeneans coexist the infection prevalence and intensity are higher than in cases of monospecific infection. The specific character of the microhabitat, the apparent absence of interspecific competition, and the existence of positive species interactions are discussed.

Seasonal population dynamics of the monogeneans Pseudorhabdosynochus coioidesis and P. serrani on wild versus cultured groupers in Daya Bay, South China Sea

“…These include Dactylogyrus spp. parasitizing Rutilus rutilus (see Koskivaara, 1992), microcotylids infecting Mugil cephalus (see Ei Hafidi et al, 1998) and Polylabris mamaevi and Tetrancistrum nebulosi on Siganus fuscescens (see Yang et al, 2006), but such a relationship was often statistically insignificant. However, in the present study, there was a significant positive interspecific correlation between P. coioidesis and P. serrani on Epinephelus spp.…”

Spatial Distribution of Myxobolus Pethericii and Henneguya Pethericii on the Gills of an African Anabantid Ctenopoma Petherici from the Sange River, Cameroon

“…However, preference for fish side has been recorded with some monogenes. Preference for the right side was observed on Dactylogyrus amphibothrium [32] and Microcotyle mugilis while preference for the left side was observed concerning Metamicrocotyle cephalus [14] and Dactylogyrus valeti [21].…”

“…Data available are less abundant and are those of [6][7][8]. The majority of works on the distribution of gill parasites are related to Monogenea [6,7,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

“…The gills, commonly known as the most infected body part of the host by parasites are deemed a rather complex organ. Numerous authors have so far investigated the microhabitat of gill-living parasites [6][7][8][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. Therefore, in the overall situation, the parasite species coexistence is studied in the context of site segregation [19,22].…”

Microecology of Monogenean Gill Parasites of Tilapia Rendalli Boulenger, 1897 From Bamendjing Lake, Cameroon

“…C. tilapiae preferred gill arch II and the distal zone. Various works also showed that microhabitat selection is common among fish gill monogeneans and that the choice of attachment site varies with the species (El Hafidi et al, 1998;Tombi et al, 2010;Le Roux et al, 2011;Sujana, 2015). The majority of the representatives of the studied component community are preferentially found on gill arches I and II and on the anterior hemibranch.…”