Metazoan Parasites of the Mediterranean Garfish Belone belone gracilis (Teleostei: Belonidae) as a Tool for Stock Discrimination

Manel Châari^*, Mariam Feki, Lassâd Neifar

Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Département des Sciences de la vie, Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Université de Sfax, Sfax, Tunisie.

DOI: 10.4236/ojms.2015.53027                

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to provide a current survey of metazoan parasites of the Mediterranean garfish Belone belone gracilis Lowe, 1839 off Tunisian coast and their potential use as biological tags for discriminate stocks. Parasitological analysis of 453 specimens of B. b. gracilis along the eastern Tunisian coast revealed the presence of ten species of metazoan parasites: one monogenean Axine belones Abildgaard, 1794; four digeneansLecithostaphylus retroflexus (Molin, 1859), Tergestia acanthocephala (Stossich, 1887) Stossich, 1899, Aponurus laguncula Looss, 1907 and Condylocotyla pilodora(metacercaria) Pearson et Prévot, 1985; one copepod Bomolochus bellonesBurmeister, 1835; two isopods Irona nana Schioedte et Meinert, 1884 andNerocila orbignyi (Guérin-Méneville, 1832); 1 acanthocephalan Telosentis exiguus (Von Linstow, 1901) and one nematod Anisakid larvae. Discriminant analysis using parasites as biological tags, allowed identifying two stocks ofB. b. gracilis. Digenea L. retroflexus, A. laguncula and Anisakid larvae were the most important species in determining the position of sampled fishes from the central coast off Tunisia. Metacercaria C. pilodora characterized specimens from the Southern coast off Tunisia. These results were corroborated by comparing parameters of prevalence and mean abundance between zones. Discriminant analysis used for the separation of B. b. gracilis between seasons in both localities showed that a seasonal variation affected mainly specimens from the center suggesting seasonal move of fishes.

Keywords

Belone belone gracilis, Metazoan Parasites, Stock Discrimination, Tunisian Coast, Mediterranean Sea

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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