TY - JOUR
T1 - Parasites of pufferfish, Lagocephalus spp. and Torquigener flavimaculosus of the Israeli Mediterranean
T2 - A new case of Lessepsian endoparasites
AU - Gabel, Michael
AU - Unger, Patrick
AU - Theisen, Stefan
AU - Palm, Harry Wilhelm
AU - Rothman, Shevy Bat Sheva
AU - Yitzhak, Nitzan
AU - Morov, Arseniy R.
AU - Stern, Nir
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - With the opening of the Suez Canal as a link between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea in 1869, the biogeographical event of the Lessepsian migration has been starting. Aided by beneficial conditions in the new habitat, almost 500 marine species have immigrated and often established themselves in the Mediterranean Sea, including several pufferfish species, with all of them extending their range and becoming important components of the local fauna. The parasitic fauna of these pufferfish has scarcely been examined in the Mediterranean Sea or in their native range, which provides the opportunity to study host-parasite interaction in a new habitat. The present study describes the parasitic fauna in four alien invasive pufferfish species (Lagocephalus guentheri, L. sceleratus, L. suezensis, and Torquigener flavimaculosus) of various sizes and ages on the Israeli Mediterranean coast. The parasite fauna of these species was diverse (Maculifer dayawanensis Digenea; Calliterarhynchus gracilis, Nybelinia africana and Tetraphyllidea larvae Cestoda; Hysterothylacium reliquens, Hysterothylacium sp. and Raphidascaris sp. Nematoda; Trachellobdella lubrica Hirudinea and Caligus fugu and Taeniacanthus lagocephali Copepoda) and consisted of mostly generalist species, most likely acquired in the new habitat, and specialist copepod ectoparasites, having co-invaded with the pufferfish. Additionally, the oioxenic opecoelid digenean Maculifer dayawanensis was found in two pufferfish species. The genus was previously only known from the Indo-Pacific Ocean, representing the eighth reported case of a Lessepsian endoparasite so far. Our results suggest a change in parasite fauna to native Mediterranean species in the pufferfish like previously reported in other Lessepsian migrant predatory fish species and a wider spread of co-invasion of fish endoparasites to the Mediterranean Sea than previously assumed. The study also provides several new host records and the first report for parasites in T. flavimaculosus.
AB - With the opening of the Suez Canal as a link between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea in 1869, the biogeographical event of the Lessepsian migration has been starting. Aided by beneficial conditions in the new habitat, almost 500 marine species have immigrated and often established themselves in the Mediterranean Sea, including several pufferfish species, with all of them extending their range and becoming important components of the local fauna. The parasitic fauna of these pufferfish has scarcely been examined in the Mediterranean Sea or in their native range, which provides the opportunity to study host-parasite interaction in a new habitat. The present study describes the parasitic fauna in four alien invasive pufferfish species (Lagocephalus guentheri, L. sceleratus, L. suezensis, and Torquigener flavimaculosus) of various sizes and ages on the Israeli Mediterranean coast. The parasite fauna of these species was diverse (Maculifer dayawanensis Digenea; Calliterarhynchus gracilis, Nybelinia africana and Tetraphyllidea larvae Cestoda; Hysterothylacium reliquens, Hysterothylacium sp. and Raphidascaris sp. Nematoda; Trachellobdella lubrica Hirudinea and Caligus fugu and Taeniacanthus lagocephali Copepoda) and consisted of mostly generalist species, most likely acquired in the new habitat, and specialist copepod ectoparasites, having co-invaded with the pufferfish. Additionally, the oioxenic opecoelid digenean Maculifer dayawanensis was found in two pufferfish species. The genus was previously only known from the Indo-Pacific Ocean, representing the eighth reported case of a Lessepsian endoparasite so far. Our results suggest a change in parasite fauna to native Mediterranean species in the pufferfish like previously reported in other Lessepsian migrant predatory fish species and a wider spread of co-invasion of fish endoparasites to the Mediterranean Sea than previously assumed. The study also provides several new host records and the first report for parasites in T. flavimaculosus.
KW - Caligus fugu
KW - Lessepsian migration
KW - Maculifer dayawanensis
KW - Molecular identification
KW - Morphology
KW - Opistholobetines
KW - Taeniacanthus lagocephali
KW - Trypanorhyncha
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140482372&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2022.09.003
DO - 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2022.09.003
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C2 - 36339899
AN - SCOPUS:85140482372
SN - 2213-2244
VL - 19
SP - 211
EP - 221
JO - International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife
JF - International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife
ER -