Parasites of Mummichogs, Fundulus heteroclitus, from the York River, Virginia, U.S.A., with a Checklist of Parasites of Atlantic Coast Fundulus Spp

Parasites of the Carolina Bay Lake-EndemicFundulus waccamensis(Waccamaw Killifish)

“…All of the taxa we documented on Waccamaw Killifish, except the unidentified digenean, had previously been reported from Banded Killifish (Harris and Vogelbein 2006, Hoffman 1999, King 2009, King and Cone 2009, Wiles 1975, thus supporting the probable shared evolutionary history of these 2 host species. Interestingly, the host record for Fundulotrema porterensis is the first report of this gyrodactylid species outside of 2 adjacent lakes in Nova Scotia (King and Cone 2009), and our observation suggests a wider distribution for this species than has been demonstrated.…”

“…The parasite community of Waccamaw Killifish may have also experienced a reduction in membership due to seasonal fluctuations in parasite populations and the inability for re-colonization after local extinctions (Dunn et al 2009, Lafferty andKuris 2009), further explaining the paucity of parasite species. This may, in part, explain the absence of several monoxenous taxa that we expected to be present on our samples because they are common as infections of Banded Killifish (Harris and Vogelbein 2006, Hoffman 1999, King 2009). These taxa include protozoan trichodinids, fungal microsporidians, the cnidarian myxozoa, and mongenean dactylogyrids, all of which commonly infect Banded Killifish over a broad geographic range.…”

“…We used stereo and compound microscopes to aid our necropsies of Waccamaw Killifish, which included examination of the fins, body, buccal cavity and musculature of the head, gills, eyes, brain, ureters, intestine, liver, heart, gallbladder, gonads, air bladder, spleen, and mesenteries of preserved fishes following the procedures of Harris and Vogelbein (2006) and King (2009). We examined the fixative and sediment in each vial for dislodged ectoparasites.…”

“…This information gap is somewhat surprising given the unique nature of the lake, its degree of endemism in fishes and invertebrates, and the rich literature on the parasite-component communities of other local littoral-zone fishes (e.g., Fundulus spp.). In their review of parasites of 9 east-coast fundulids, Harris and Vogelbein (2006) reported a speciose parasite fauna comprised of at least 93 taxa infecting F. heteroclitus (L.) (Mummichog). Banded Killifish, the allopatric progenitor of Waccamaw Killifish, also has a rich parasite fauna representing at least 3 protozoan and 60 metazoan parasite species (Harris and Vogelbein 2006).…”

“…In their review of parasites of 9 east-coast fundulids, Harris and Vogelbein (2006) reported a speciose parasite fauna comprised of at least 93 taxa infecting F. heteroclitus (L.) (Mummichog). Banded Killifish, the allopatric progenitor of Waccamaw Killifish, also has a rich parasite fauna representing at least 3 protozoan and 60 metazoan parasite species (Harris and Vogelbein 2006). King (2009) extended the host records for both Mummichog and Banded Killifish to include 2 additional gyrodactylids from the Canadian range: Fundulotrema foxi (Rawson) (see King 2009) and the new species Fundulotrema porterensis King & Cone (see King and Cone 2009).…”