Parasite communities of the Salzhaff (Northwest Mecklenburg, Baltic Sea). I. Structure and dynamics of communities of littoral fish, especially small-sized fish

Abstract

The parasites of ten fish species, including four Gobiidae, three Gasterosteidae, two Syngnathidae, and one Zoarcidae from the Salzhaff region, Northwest Mecklenburg, Baltic Sea, were investigated in 1995 and 1996. As many as 36 parasite species, represented by diverse groups of helminths and protozoans as well as annelids and copepods, are found during 4 seasons in these hosts. By far the most abundant group is represented by digeneans, comprising 15 species, followed by 7 cestodans and 6 nematodes. With regard to component communities, 8 host-parasite combinations are core and secondary species with more than 40% prevalence in which generalists such as the digeneans Podocotyle atomon and Cryptocotyle concavum (in 3 hosts). C. lingua, Diplostomum spathaceum, and Acanthostomum balthicum, and the nematode Hysterothylacium are involved. Also, specialists such as Aphalloides timmi in Pomatoschistus microps as well as Magnibursatus caudofilamentosa and Thersitina gasterostei in Gasterosteus aculeatus attain high levels of prevalence. A comparison of different investigations reveals greater prevalence of allogenic and autogenic parasite species with 3 host cycles in the Rerik-Riff (free Baltic) and higher levels of prevalence of autogenic parasite species with 1 or 2 host cycles in the entire Salzhaff. The component communities of gobies from Dahmeshöved, Lübeck Bight, attain generally lower degrees of prevalence than those of the Salzhaff region. The infracommunities consist mostly of 1-3 parasite species per host specimen; this value is surpassed on occasion in P. microps (maximum 7 species) and in G. aculeatus (maximum 9 species, which may compete for 5 microhabitats in a host specimen). In this context the theory of empty niches propagated by some parasitologists is critically discussed and substituted by the assumption of variable niche widths. The seasonality of the more abundant parasites is either unclear--as in the case of C. concavum--or evident--as in the case of P. atomon, which prevail in early spring and summer, or A. timmi, which dominate in late summer, as do M. caudofilamentosa, which is absent in spring. The main causes of the infestation of fish hosts may be their ages and the availability of parasites due to the presence of intermediate hosts.

Community ecology of the metazoan parasites of the Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Scombridae) from the coast of Visakhapatnam, Bay of Bengal

“…The values of infracommunity parameters are within the ranges reported for metazoan parasite communities of other species of marine fish from tropical and subtropical regions. The predominance of digeneans in the parasite spectrum noted here was also seen in many other marine fish species (Thoney, 1993;Campos and Carbonell, 1994;Biju Kumar, 1996;Lile, 1998;Zander et al 1999;Madhavi and Sairam, 2000;Silva et al 2000;Alves and Luque, 2001;Alves et al 2003). L. angustiovum was found to be the most dominant species in the parasite assemblage of R. kanagurta.…”

The first record of Piscicola pojmanskae Bielecki, 1994 in the Gulf of Gdańsk (the southern Baltic Sea) with species characteristics distinguishing it from Piscicola geometra (Linnaeus, 1758)

“…In the Bay of Puck, P. geometra was also found directly on the skin of round goby Neogobius melanostomus (Pallas, 1814) (Kvach & Skóra 2007) and stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus aculeatus Linnaeus, 1758(Morozińska-Gogol 1999. In other areas of the Baltic Sea, the species was also found on the skin of eel Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758) (Rolbiecki & Rokicki 2006), ninespine stickleback Pungitius pungitius (Linnaeus, 1758), viviparous eelpout Zoarces viviparus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Zander et al 1999), and Baltic flounder Platichthys flesus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Køie 1999). Leeches occurred also on the skin, the mouth cavity, and the gill of pike-perch Sander lucioperca (Linnaeus, 1758) (Rolbiecki 2003) and ide Leuciscus idus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Sobecka et al 2004).…”

“…Leeches occurred also on the skin, the mouth cavity, and the gill of pike-perch Sander lucioperca (Linnaeus, 1758) (Rolbiecki 2003) and ide Leuciscus idus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Sobecka et al 2004). Although Piscicolidae are generalists, they infest fewer hosts due to lower levels of prevalence in the estuarine brackish water (Zander et al 1999). In freshwaters, P. pojmaskae was found on the common carp Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758 (Bielecki 1995) and roach Rutilus rutilus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Bielecki & Dzika 2000).…”

Variaciones espacio temporales de la estructura comunitaria de endoparasitos en peces intermareales de Chile central: descriptores parasitologicos, composicion de especies y anidamiento

“…rencias en la temperatura a lo largo de Chile, la dieta del hospedero, o el uso del hábitat pueden influir en la composición de especies (Granath & Esch, 1983;Marcogliese & Esch, 1989;Zander et al, 1999;Zander, 2003;Poulin, 2007). Finalmente la estructura de la comunidad de endoparásitos de las tres especies hospederas mostró resultados variados.…”

“…Diversos estudios han demostrado que tanto las condiciones ambientales del entorno como las propias características del hospedero son determinantes en los procesos de colonización y extinción parasitaria. Estos factores pueden llegar a modelar la comunidad de parásitos, dando como resultado patrones con variaciones espacio-temporales en la estructura de la comunidad (Rohde et al, 1998;Zander et al, 1999;Timi & Poulin, 2003;Vidal-Martínez & Poulin, 2003;González & Poulin, 2005;Poulin, 2007).…”