Three new records of fishes and their parasite fauna from Pomeranian Bay, Baltic Sea

Beata Więcaszek,Remigiusz Panicz,Klaudia Górecka,Ewa Sobecka,Angelika Linowska,Sebastian Król,Sławomir Keszka

doi:10.3750/aiep/02392

Abstract

This paper reports the occurrence of three new fish species, extremely rare in the Baltic Sea, and provides new data on their parasite fauna. The fish collected were Barbus barbus (Linnaeus, 1758), Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill, 1814), and Scophthalmus rhombus (Linnaeus, 1758). Their taxonomic identity was confirmed through genetic analyses using DNA extracted from fin clips. The stomach contents were examined, and age was determined by otolith or scale readings. Parasitological examinations focused on the skin, vitreous humour, eye lenses, mouth and nasal cavities, gills, gonads, viscera, and muscles. Furthermore, the changes of fish species composition over 20 years in Pomeranian Bay were analysed. The sequence comparisons against GenBank records revealed that sequences obtained for B. barbus and S. rhombus from Pomeranian Bay represent new rhodopsin barcodes. Record of the juvenile B. barbus in this study is the first in the Baltic Sea. Scophthalmus rhombus is a new host for the ciliate Trichodina jadranica, while Neogobius melanostomus (Pallas, 1814) is a new food item in the diet of S. rhombus in the Baltic Sea. Acanthocephalan Pomphorhynchus laevis found in the adult specimen of B. barbus and myxozoan Myxobolus musculi, noted in the juvenile specimen, have not been recorded previously in this fish species in Polish waters. Species collected as bycatch can potentially be used for monitoring potential changes in the overall fish community structure and biodiversity.

Highlights

INTRODUCTIONSince the mid-1990s, the Baltic Marine Biologists (BMB) has encouraged research on non-commercial coastal fishes with regard to the occurrence, distribution, and the overall ecological status (Winkler et al 2000, Więcaszek et al 2015)
Since the mid-1990s, the Baltic Marine Biologists (BMB) has encouraged research on non-commercial coastal fishes with regard to the occurrence, distribution, and the overall ecological status (Winkler et al 2000, Więcaszek et al 2015).Pomeranian Bay (Bornholm Basin; ICES division IIId, subdivision SD 24), a highly dynamic environment, is a large, shallow basin off the Polish and German coasts, with the depth not exceeding 30 m
Data on the fish species composition of Pomeranian Bay quite recent, but the monitoring surveys in 2007–2008 and 2011–2015 conducted by Dudko et al (2015) focused on commercial species, mainly Clupea harengus Linnaeus, 1758, Sprattus sprattus (Linnaeus, 1758), Gadus morhua Linnaeus, 1758, Platichthys flesus (Linnaeus, 1758), Sander lucioperca (Linnaeus, 1758), and Perca fluviatilis Linnaeus, 1758

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Since the mid-1990s, the Baltic Marine Biologists (BMB) has encouraged research on non-commercial coastal fishes with regard to the occurrence, distribution, and the overall ecological status (Winkler et al 2000, Więcaszek et al 2015). Data on the fish species composition of Pomeranian Bay quite recent, but the monitoring surveys in 2007–2008 and 2011–2015 conducted by Dudko et al (2015) focused on commercial species, mainly Clupea harengus Linnaeus, 1758, Sprattus sprattus (Linnaeus, 1758), Gadus morhua Linnaeus, 1758, Platichthys flesus (Linnaeus, 1758), Sander lucioperca (Linnaeus, 1758), and Perca fluviatilis Linnaeus, 1758. Partial sequences of the (2016) have presented results of studies on endangered, rhodopsin gene (RH1) were amplified using Rod-F2W non-commercial, new, or visiting fish species recorded as and Rod-R4n primers described in the paper by Sevilla bycatch during monitoring surveys in Pomeranian Bay. et al (2007). Report on the occurrence of three new fish species reads and further alignments against GenBank nucleotide captured as bycatch during monitoring surveys in 2014 records was performed using BioEdit and BLAST software, and 2015. Mouth and nasal cavities, gills, gonads, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, swim bladder, urinary bladder, gall

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Findings

18 May 2015