A study of the endohelminths of the European perch Perca fluviatilis L. from the central region of the Danube river basin in Slovakia

Abstract

The European perch Perca fluviatilis L. serves as a host of different endohelminths of Trematoda, Cestoda, Nematoda, and Acanthocephala. Its natural range covers freshwater basins throughout much of Europe, including the Danube. Since information about endohelminths of European perch from this international river basin has been rather sporadic, the parasitological examinations of 700 perch from the central region of the Danube river basin in Slovakia were performed in October 2017 and April 2018. The larval stages of Triaenophorus nodulosus (Cestoda) were found in cysts located in the perch liver and adults of Proteocephalus percae (Cestoda) were isolated from the intestine. The larval stages of Eustrongylides sp. (Nematoda) and metacercariae of Clinostomum complanatum (Trematoda), both potential causative agents of fish-borne zoonoses, were found in the musculature. Spatial and seasonal differences in the occurrence of currently detected helminths were discussed with data on biological and environmental conditions of particular sampling site.

Unlocking the genome of perch – From genes to ecology and back again

“…However, the actual number of pathogens in perch is most likely greater due to the widespread underreporting of viruses, bacteria and fungi (Becker et al, 2016;Caruso et al, 2019;Garver et al, 2018;Hierweger et al, 2021;Kashinskaya et al, 2020;Langdon et al, 1986;Marsh et al, 2002;Pallandre et al, 2022;Ruane et al, 2014;Wahli et al, 2015). As perch is regularly a target species in biomonitoring projects (e.g., HELCOM, 2018b) and an abundant fish throughout most of its range, cross-sectional parasitological studies have a long history and data are available for many habitats and geographical localities (Andersen, 1978;Andrews, 1979;Balling & Pfeiffer, 1997;Juhásová et al, 2019;Morley et al, 2008;Morozinska-Gogol, 2013;Nikolic & Simonovic, 1996;Rolbiecki et al, 2002;Shukerova et al, 2010;Sobecka & Słomińska, 2007;Tuuha et al, 1992;Wierzbicka et al, 2005;Wierzbicki, 1970). This has revealed location-specific and seasonally fluctuating parasite assemblages (Andersen, 1978;Karvonen et al, 2005;Skorping, 1981;Valtonen et al, 1993), a tendency for higher diversity and abundance with increasing age and ontogenetic shift from pelagic to littoral zones (Behrmann-Godel, 2013;Kuchta et al, 2009;Lee, 1981).…”

“…Yet, currently, it is unclear if certain perch populations are more susceptible to specific viral strains or other pathogens (Pascoli et al, 2015) hence precluding accurate forecasting of the epidemiological outcome. Combining host and parasite genomic data will be useful for biosafety aspects to better understand and predict disease outbreaks in areas inhabited by perch within its native and invasive ranges and also in aquaculture settings (Behrmann‐Godel et al, 2014; Branciari et al, 2016; Juhásová et al, 2019; Langdon, 1989; Matras et al, 2019; Menconi et al, 2020; Morley et al, 2008; Rupp et al, 2019; Schwabl et al, 2017). Moreover, the use of high‐throughput sequencing would expand the spatial and temporal range of host–parasite investigations enabling to better predict parasite spread as well as host vulnerability under future climatic conditions (Björklund et al, 2015; Lõhmus & Björklund, 2015; Schwabl et al, 2017).…”

Ecological study on helminths of three species of Gobiidae from the Danube River, Bulgaria

“…Four species of gobies, including B. gymnotrachelus, N. fl uviatilis, and N. melanostomus, are spread upstream of the Danube River, outside their natural habitats (Ondračková et al, 2009). The Danube River plays an important role in expanding the range of various fi sh species (Bódis et al, 2012), which can lead to the spread of their parasites (Juhásová et al, 2019). Some non-native fi sh species become food for many native predatory fi sh species (Bódis et al, 2012).…”

“…A person can become infected by consuming raw fish or fish without sufficient heat treatment (Scholz, 1999;Ljubojevic et al, 2015). Among the endoparasitic species causing zoonoses are E. excisus (Ljubojevic et al, 2015;Juhásová et al, 2019) and Contracaecum sp. (Demir & Karakişi, 2014;Shamsi, 2019).…”

In Silico Screening and Development of Microsatellite Markers for Genetic Analysis in Perca fluviatilis

“…It is an important species of freshwater fish, favored by farmers because of fast growth and strong disease resistance [ 2 ], and it is favored by consumers due to its flavorsome meat and high nutritional value. To date, research on P. fluviatilis has focused on biological characteristics [ 3 , 4 ], artificial reproduction [ 5 , 6 ], embryonic development [ 7 ], parasites [ 8 , 9 ], and feeding [ 10 , 11 ].…”