Helminth parasites of the oceanic horse mackerelTrachurus picturatusBowdich 1825 (Pisces: Carangidae) from Madeira Island, Atlantic Ocean, Portugal

Abstract

The helminth parasite fauna of the oceanic horse mackerel Trachurus picturatus Bowdich 1825, caught off the Madeira Islands was composed of six different taxa. Prevalence and abundance of larval Anisakis sp. (Nematoda: Anisakidae) and Nybelinia lingualis (Trypanorhyncha: Tentaculariidae), the most common parasite taxa, were 24.3%, 0.9 and 37.9%, 0.7, respectively. Bolbosoma vasculosum (Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae) and the monogeneans Heteraxinoides atlanticus (Monogenea: Heteraxinidae) and Pseudaxine trachuri (Monogenea: Gastrocotylidae) were comparatively rare. The depauperate helminth fauna of the oceanic horse mackerel at Madeira compared to other geographical regions of the north-eastern Atlantic, namely the Azores banks and the West African coast, may be attributed to the paucity of nutrients off oceanic islands and to a low density of the fish population.

Endoparasites of <i>Trachurus picturatus</i> (Pisces: Carangidae) from the Madeira and Canary Islands: Selecting parasites for use as tags

“…and N. lingualis could not be considered effective biological tags, as present and previous data on the infection of T. picturatus and other Trachurus species infected with these parasites determined that their prevalence and mean abundance were length-dependent, with fish of less than 21 cm showing low prevalence of infection (MacKenzie et al 2008, Costa et al 2012.…”

“…Previous surveys of parasites of T. picturatus (and T. trachurus) suggested that some of their endohelminth parasites, such as digeneans, were unsuitable to be used as biological tags for stock identification due to their short life span and low prevalence of infection (Gaevskaya and Kovaleva 1985, MacKenzie et al 2008, Costa et al 2012. Other parasites with promising roles in elucidating aspects of the population biology and migrations of T. picturatus included larval cestodes, acanthocephalans and G. cruciata (see Kovaleva 1985, Costa et al 2012).…”

“…Parasite species richness of this fish species was studied in the Azores Archipelago and Western Sahara Atlantic region Kovaleva 1980, 1985) and in the Madeira Archipelago (Gonçalves 1996, Costa et al 2012, evidencing regional differences in prevalence and intensity of some helminth parasites, which could indicate the existence of different populations of this fish species. Here we report the occurrence of some internal parasites of the oceanic horse mackerel from two geographic regions, the Madeira Islands and the Canary Islands, and discuss the feasibility of using two horse mackerel specific parasites, a protozoan apicomplexan and an acanthocephalan, as biological tags for the identification of populations of T. picturatus.…”

Metazoan parasites of blue jack mackerelTrachurus picturatus(Perciformes: Carangidae) from Portuguese mainland waters

“…Alternatively, M. filiformis could also be acquired by T. picturatus feeding on small fish that had consumed cercariae, and which constitute facultative intermediate hosts, as suggested by Køie (1979). However, no M. filiformis were detected in Madeiran waters (Costa et al, 2012), nor in the area of the seamounts studied by Gaevskaya & Kovaleva (1985), suggesting that this parasite is restricted to continental-shelf regions, presumably where its intermediate hosts occur. In Madeira, the stomach contents of T. picturatus were found to consist mainly of fish and euphausiid crustaceans, whereas in the Canary Islands, they were composed of isopods and fish (Costa et al, 2013).…”

Parasites of marine, freshwater and farmed fishes of Portugal: a review

“…simplex s.l., Pagellus bogaraveo, most larvae encapsulated in fish body cavity, mesenteries, on the ouside of the viscera, Costa et al (2004aCosta et al ( , 2009b, Hermida et al (2012b). Costa G et al (2003aCosta G et al ( , 2012Costa G et al ( , 2013b.…”