Infestation ofLernaea cyprinacea(Copepoda: Lernaeidae) in two invasive fish species in Romania,Lepomis gibbosusandPseudorasbora parva

Abstract

Key-words:non-indigenous fish, host-parasite coevolution, quantitative parasitology, DNA barcoding, molecular markersIn this study we analyzed comparatively the host-parasite associations between two fish host species invasive in Europe (Lepomis gibbosus and Pseudorasbora parva) and one known generalist parasite species, the copepod Lernaea cyprinacea. We used a fragment of the hypervariable region D1-D2 of the 28S rRNA to confirm that the copepod specimens collected on both host species in our study are indeed conspecific. The prevalence of infection was significantly different between the two host species in all three aquatic ecosystems. Two populations of L. gibbosus exhibited a positive correlation coefficient between the standard body length and infection intensity, while a negative correlation coefficient was observed in one population of P. parva. This is one of the few studies providing parasitological parameters of infections of Lernaea cypriancea in Lepomis gibbosus and Pseudorasbora parva.

First report of the parasitic copepod Lernaea cyprinacea (Copepoda: Lernaeidae) on gobioid fishes (Teleostei: Gobonellidae) in southern Europe

“…This has led to different suggestions about (sub) species or geographic delimitation by some authors (comp. Demaree, 1967;Nagasawa et al, 2007;Stavrescu-Bedivan et al, 2014). The dimensions measured in our sample are within the range given for North America (Tidd, 1933;Demaree, 1967), i.e.…”

“…Sympatrically occurring fish species often show divergent infestation rates by L. cyprinacea. This was linked to several extrinsic and intrinsic factors such as resistance against infection (Shariff and Roberts, 1989;Stavrescu-Bedivan et al, 2014), different trophic behavior (Alam et al, 2012;Iqbal et al, 2012), temperature fluctuations (Raissy et al, 2013;Stavrescu-Bedivan et al, 2014), hydrodynamic conditions (Medeiros and Maltchik, 1999), microhabitat differences (Kadlec et al, 2003;Stavrescu-Bedivan et al, 2014;Innal et al, 2017) or small size (Piasecki et al, 2004;Stavrescu-Bedivan et al, 2011;Innal et al, 2017). Our literature survey revealed that predominantly pelagic fish species were targets of L. cyprinacae, less often small benthic species such as Cobitidae, Cottidae or Gobiidae (e. g. Pónyi and Molnár, 1969;Amin, 1981;Djikanovic et al, 2012;Koyun et al, 2015).…”

“…All infested gobies of Lake Trasimeno were adults. An infestation by more than one parasite may well be lethal for these small fishes because the tissue penetration by the parasite causes severe damage (Piasecki et al, 2004;Boxshall and Defaye, 2008;Avenant-Oldewage, 2012;Stavrescu-Bedivan et al, 2014). Moreover, the life span of both species is too short (about one year) to allow these female parasites to hibernate on their hosts as they do on perennial species (Hossain et al, 2013).…”

nfestation of the Torrent Catfish (Siluriformes, Trichomycteridae) by an Exotic Crustacean (Copepoda, Lernaeidae) in Andean Mountains of Argentina

“…Nine parasites were attached in: the gill (4 parasites), urogenital aberture (1 parasite), and the base of the pectoral fin (4 parasites). Although Lernaea cyprinacea seem to (14) found that L. cyprinacea preferred sheltered areas on the fins and skin for attachment. One of the hypotheses proposed to explain this copepod attachment preference is that fins offer greater protection against currents and tissues at the base of the fins may be more easily penetrated (14)(15)(16).…”

Prey Selection of Pseudorasbora parva (Temminck and Schlegel, 1846) in a Freshwater Ecosystem (Lake Eğirdir/Turkey)

“…The topmouth gudgeon, Pseudorasbora parva (Temminck and Schlegel, 1846) (sub fam. Gobioninae) is a small cyprinid fish distributed in Japan, China, Korea, Hungary, Germany, Serbia, Austria, Greece, Poland, North Africa, Romania, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and Ukraine [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. It usually occupies a range of lotic and lentic habitats, including rivers, reservoirs, canals, ponds, shallow lakes and oxbows [11][12][13].…”