Parasite fauna of the mediterranean grenadier Coryphaenoides mediterraneus (Giglioli, 1893) from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR)

Abstract

A total of 38 Coryphaenoides mediterraneus from the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone (CGFZ), a part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), was studied for parasites and feeding ecology. Sixteen different parasite species were found, most of them belonging to the Digenea (6 species) and Nematoda (6). Twelve new host and 11 new locality records were established, and 8 deep-sea generalists and 5 deep-sea specialists were found. Twelve adult and 3 larval parasites occurred, with Allopodocotyle margolisi (Digenea), Tetraphyllidea indet. (Scolex pleuronectis, Cestoda) and Ascarophis longiovata (Nematoda) being the predominant species. These parasites reached a prevalence of 50.0%, 86.8% and 68.4% with an intensity of infection of 1-10, 1-91 and 1-74, respectively. The food consisted of crustaceans and cephalopods; no further prey items such as fish could be identified. Coryphaenoides mediterraneus demonstrates a parasite fauna similar to that of other deep-sea macrourids. No MAR-specific parasite species were found, and the collected helminths are common fish parasites of the North Atlantic deep-sea basin and the adjacent continental shelf regions. Only few larval epipelagic generalists such as ascaridoid nematodes were found, due to the deep origin of the studied fish between 1700-3500 m. The recorded species rich parasite fauna reflects the wide depth range and opportunistic feeding behaviour of C. mediterraneus on benthopelagic food. The recorded parasite species composition around the MAR appears to be similar to other deep-sea locations in the Atlantic Ocean, demonstrating the wide zoogeographical distribution of these deep-sea metazoans. Consequences of the MAR, the CGFZ and the homogeneous deep-sea environmental conditions for the parasite species distribution are discussed.

Morphological and Morphometric Insights of Gonocerca phycidis from the Brushtooth Lizardfish Saurida undosquamis

“…There are several species described in the Gonocerca genus, namely G. phycidis Manter [1]; G. kobayashi Layman [22]; G. crassa Manter [8]; G. macroformis Wolfgang and Myers [9]; G. oregonensis McCauley et al [23]; G. lobata Byrd [24]; G. trematomus Byrd [24]; G. japonica Toman [25]; and G. caetorinchi Machida and Kuramochi [26]. Morphological and morphometric comparison revealed that in our study, the Gonocerca species is closely related to G. phycidis previously described by Zdzitowiecki [27] from Pseudochaenichthys georgianus in South Georgia; Suriano and Sutton [28] from Macroronus magellanicus in San Matías Gulf, Argentina; Kellermanns et al [29] from Macrourus berglax in Admiralty Bay, Indian Ocean; and Guagliardo et al [21] from Seriolella porosa in San Matías Gulf, Argentina; because of their remarkable similarities in the measurements of the different body parts. G. phycidis has a wide host range, infecting members of different fish families.…”

Metazoan parasites of deep-sea fishes from the South Eastern Pacific: Exploring the role of ecology and host phylogeny

“…Additional studies in the North Atlantic have been conducted by Wilhelm et al, (2008); Kellermanns, et al, (2009) and Klimpel et al, (2006;2010), among others. Parasite assemblages of deep-sea fishes collected from the Antarctic Ocean have been studied by Walter et al (2002), whereas Brickle et al (2005); Dallarés et al (2014); Mateu et al (2015) and Constenla et al (2015) analyzed the parasite fauna of Mediterranean deep-sea fishes.…”

The molecular phylogeny of the digenean family Opecoelidae Ozaki, 1925 and the value of morphological characters, with the erection of a new subfamily

“…The position of Allopodocotyle margolisi in the other major opecoelid clade, along with other deep-sea fish parasites, indicates that some convergence appears to have occurred. Allopodocotyle margolisi is the only deep-sea member of the nominal genus and is genuinely deep-sea, having been found at depth between 1 700-3 500 m off the west coast of Scotland and at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Gibson 1995, Kellermanns et al 2009). …”