The parasite fauna of five goby species (Gobiidae, Teleostei) was investigated in the Baltic Sea during the period 1987 to 1990. 13 parasite species were found in samples from the (Acanthocephala). The number of parasite species were: 10 in the sand goby Pomatoschistus minutus, 8 in the black goby Gobius niger, 7 in the two-spotted goby Gobiusculus flavescens, 6 in the common goby Pomatoschistus microps, and 5 in the painted goby Pomatoschistus pictus. Neoechinorhynchus rutili occurred only in P. minutus, and Corynosoma sp. only in G. niger. The extent to which the gobies were parasitized clearly depended on the respective ways of life and, moreover, on the kind of prey ingested by the hosts. Additionally, the age of the hosts might be important. The highest rate of parasitism, more than 60 %, was reached by Hysterothylacium sp. in G. niger and by Cryptocotyle concavum in P. microps. Infestation incidence lay mostly below 40 % which means a satellite species status (Holmes, 1991). The number of parasite species was highest in summer; the highest intensities of single parasites occurred in spring (Podocotyle atomon) or autumn (Cryptocotyle concavum). Bothriocephalus scorpii, Hy, sterothylacium sp. and Podocotyle infested their juvenile hosts very early, but only I-Iysterothylacium was accumulated by G. niger during its whole life span, whereas Bothriocephalus persisted also in older gobies in low intensities. The cercariae of Cryptocotyle spp. penetrate actively into their hosts; ai1 the other parasites named were transmitted in larval form by prey organisms which consisted mainly of planktonic and benthic crustaceans. The gobies were final hosts for only 5 parasites; but two species may be transmitted to larger fish, and 6 species to sea birds or mammals. The parasite community of the five gobies may possibly be taken to characterize the ecological quality of the environment of the Liibeck Bight.

Metazoan parasites of guilds of benthic snails and crustaceans and of four fish families--Gobiidae, Gasterosteidae, Syngnathidae, and Zoarcidae--were investigated off the brackish Salzhaff area (Southwest Baltic) in the semienclosed Salzhaff and the near Rerik Riff in the free Baltic. Comparisons revealed greater similarities in parasite populations and communities within the fish guilds than between them. According to an evaluation of the core-/satellite-species concept using abundance values, the most important parasites of fish were some generalists, such as Cryptocotyle spp., Podocotyle atomon, and Diplostomum spathaceum, as well as some specialists, such as Acanthostomum balthicum, Thersitina gasterostei, and Aphalloides timmi. These specialists revealed high degrees of prevalence in their main hosts and lower degrees in one or two by-hosts. Additional importance is assigned to parasites that cause harm to their hosts due to their large size, e.g., Schistocephalus spp., or via massive infestation, e.g., several digenean metacercariae. Because specialists were more prominent in snails and fish from the Rerik Riff, the correlation of host numbers with prevalence resulted in only a slight increase instead of a more rapid rise in regression among crustaceans and fish from the entire Salzhaff, where the generalists were more prevalent. The selected host guilds demonstrated the entire life cycles of three digeneans (P. atomon, A. balthicum, A. timmi), one acanthocephalan (Echinorhynchus gadi), and one nematode (Hysterothylacium sp.). The prevalence increased in these cycles from host level to host level and attained relatively high values in all guilds. The parasite fauna of the Salzhaff area is influenced by eutrophication stress, which leads to a high level of productivity and, consequently, to great densities in primary consumers such as snails and crustaceans. These are attractive for several secondary consumers such as fish and birds, which is the reason for the existence of at least 24 autogenic and 20 allogenic parasite species at this locality. The slight surplus of the first category indicates a yet-balanced environment in the investigation area.

Four helminth parasites out of 19 species found in the Liibeck Bight, Baltic Sea, were chosen for investigations on the transfer from invertebrate to small-sized fish hosts: larvae of the tapeworms Schistocephalus sp. and Bothriocephalus sp. (Cestoda) living in planktonic copepods as primary hosts; Podocotyle atornon (Digenea) and Hysterothylacium sp. (Nematoda) were found in benthic crustaceans, especially Garnmarus spp. These hosts were the prey of 3 gobiid fishes, Gobiusculus flavescens (feeding mainly on plankton), Pornatosctn'stus minutus (preferring benthos), and P. pictus (feeding more on plankton than benthos). Because the fishes selected smaller sizes of crustaceans, they ingested all stages of the copepods but only the smaller-sized groups of gammarids which were often less infested by parasites. In order to evaluate the probability for a fish to be parasitized by a helminth, an infestation potential index (IP) was calculated. Podocotyle atomon and Hysterothylacium sp. revealed an IP which was far lower in gobies than expected when the prevalences of the previous hosts were taken into consideration. The IP of tapeworm larvae was mainly influenced by the feeding pressure of the gobiid predators, which might change with developmental stage and season. It is concluded that parasite transfer to the next host decreases when sizes of prey and predator differ only moderately. This mechanism can reduce the numbers of parasites transferred to less suitable or wrong hosts.