Parasite communities of Adriatic cage-reared fish

Dis Aquat Organ. 2005 Apr 6;64(1):77-83. doi: 10.3354/dao064077.

Abstract

From June 2001 to March 2002, 7 semi-offshore facilities in the Adriatic Sea rearing sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax, sea bream Sparus aurata, sharpsnout bream Diplodus puntazzo and red sea bream Pagellus bogaraveo aged 1+, were monitored for the presence of protozoan and metazoan parasites. Obtained data sets of abundance and prevalence were used to evaluate the structure and dynamic of infra- and component parasite communities. In all hosts, except the red sea bream, dominant parasites were monogenean specialists, showing clear seasonality. Average infracommunity richness was very low, ranging from 1 to 3 parasites per fish, while at component community level, values ranged from 3 to 8, depending on host species. Based on low diversity indices and a moderate to high similarity coefficient between different facilities, it can be concluded that the parasitofauna of Adriatic cage-reared fish is a stable and impoverished stochastic assemblage, with monogeneans as the predominant parasitic group.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Aquaculture
  • Biodiversity*
  • Fish Diseases / epidemiology
  • Fish Diseases / parasitology*
  • Gills / parasitology
  • Mediterranean Sea
  • Parasitic Diseases, Animal / epidemiology*
  • Perciformes*
  • Prevalence
  • Species Specificity