Abstract
This paper examines the species composition of the parasite fauna and the values of infection for seven species of cephalopods in the Mediterranean at the Tyrrhenian Sea (West coast of Italy). Results suggest the important role of cephalopods as intermediate hosts in the life cycle of anisakine nematodes and pennellid copepods. The low host specificity (i. e., eurixenous condition) of metazoan parasites in cephalopods worldwide is also reinforced.
Highlights
Cephalopods are fast-growing predatory molluscs which play a vital role in the food webs of marine ecosystems (Amaratunga, 1986)
SUMMARY: This paper examines the species composition of the parasite fauna and the values of infection for seven species of cephalopods in the Mediterranean at the Tyrrhenian Sea (West coast of Italy)
Results suggest the important role of cephalopods as intermediate hosts in the life cycle of anisakine nematodes and pennellid copepods
Summary
Cephalopods are fast-growing predatory molluscs which play a vital role in the food webs of marine ecosystems (Amaratunga, 1986). Within the Mediterranean the areas yielding the highest percentage of cephalopods with respect to total demersal catches are the Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Seas (Belcari and Sartor, 1993). Previous studies have indicated that cephalopods are susceptible to infection by a number of parasite groups in the Mediterranean Sea (Dollfus, 1958; for review in Hochberg, 1990). This paper, which is complementary to a larger study on the role of cephalopods as hosts for parasites in European waters, (Pascual et al In progress), analyzes the parasite fauna of seven species of cephalopods in the Tyrrhenian Sea adjacent to the Tuscany region off the west coast of Italy
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