Abstract
The examination of 415 specimen belonging to twelve species of Teleostean fish and 339 specimen belonging to seven species of Chondrichthyan fish collected from the Tunisian coasts, it enabled us to identify 10 species of parasitic copepods: Lernaeopoda galei, Lernaeocera lusci, Neobrachiella merluccii, Hatschekia mulli, Caligus elongatus, Caligus pageti, Neobrachiella mugilis, Clavellotis fallax, Clavelissa pagri and Clavelissa scombri. The distribution of copepods identified, varies from one host species to another. Merluccius merluccius and Liza saliens present the important number of copepods species. The copepod Hatschekia mulli is the most abundant. The presence of Lernaeopoda galei on Scyliorhinus canicula, Mustelus mustelus and Mustelus punctalatus was reported for the first time in the southern banks of the Mediterranean. Key words: Copepods, Teleost fish, Chondrichthyan fish, Tunisian coasts, parasitic indices.
Highlights
Copepods are common parasites of marine fishes and have been reported from a great range of depths (Boxshall, 1998)
The examination of 415 specimen belonging to twelve species of Teleostean fish and 339 specimen belonging to seven species of Chondrichthyan fish collected from the Tunisian coasts, it enabled us to identify 10 species of parasitic copepods: Lernaeopoda galei, Lernaeocera lusci, Neobrachiella merluccii, Hatschekia mulli, Caligus elongatus, Caligus pageti, Neobrachiella mugilis, Clavellotis fallax, Clavelissa pagri and Clavelissa scombri
The presence of Lernaeopoda galei on Scyliorhinus canicula, Mustelus mustelus and Mustelus punctalatus was reported for the first time in the southern banks of the Mediterranean
Summary
Copepods are common parasites of marine fishes and have been reported from a great range of depths (Boxshall, 1998). This group of ectoparasites exhibits an astounding variety of lifestyles, host associations and morphology, to the extent that their crustacean affinities may be obscured (Huys et al, 2007). More than 2000 species of copepods parasitize marine and freshwater fishes and most are ectoparasitic: they are found all over the external body surface of the host as well as in more sheltered microhabitats that are permanently directly connected to the external environment, including the external nares, the eyes, the oral and branchial cavities, the gills and the cloaca (Rosim et al, 2013).
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