Endoparasitic Helminths of the European Sprat, Sprattus sprattus (Linnaeus, 1758) from the gulf of Gdańsk (the Southern Baltic Sea) with a checklist of its parasites

Abstract

Sprat Sprattus sprattus is a common fish across the European seas. It is of great importance for fishing industry, also in the southern Baltic Sea. Although parasitic fauna of the species has already been a subject of interest, it is still not very well explored in the southern Baltic Sea. In 2009 and 2011, 187 specimens of the European sprat from the Gulf of Gdansk (26 ICES subdivision) were examined for the presence of parasites. The parasites found represented Digenea: Lecithaster gibbosus (Rudolphi, 1802) and Nematoda: Hysterothylacium aduncum (Rudolphi, 1802) and Contracaecum spp. The overall prevalence was 3.2% with the mean intensity of 1.0 and abundance of 0.005. The parasite fauna of the European sprat from the southern Baltic Sea is poorly diversified and infection rates are low in comparison to other European seas. A checklist of parasites in European sprat world-wide is also provided.