Parasitic copepods (Crustacea: Copepoda) from Algerian marine fishes

Abstract

Two thousand and eight teleost fishes from the Gulf of Béjaïa belonging to 51 species and 24 families were studied for their parasitic copepods. Twelve percent were infected by 24 species of parasitic Copepoda from 7 families (Bomolochidae, Caligidae, Ergasilidae, Hatschikiidae, Lernanthropidae, Lerneopodidae and Pennellidae). All these species are reported for the first time from the Gulf of Béjaïa; 11 are new to Algerian waters. Most of them settled on the gills of hosts. The specificity is varied and the parasitologic indexes display a low general infection rate. An up-to-date checklist of parasitic copepods recorded from Algeria is presented.