Contribution to the knowledge of the parasitic fauna of fish off Adelie Land, Antarctica

Abstract

In total, 42 fish belonging to 16 species were examined. All fish were infected. Parasitic worms were endoparasites: Digenea (eight species), Cestoda (three mixed groups of larval forms), Acanthocephala (two species) and Nematoda (one species in adult and one in larval stage, and two Contracaecum spp. in larval stage). Undetermined parasitic Copepoda and Hirudinea were external parasites. Summing up previous and new data 25 species and mixed groups were found. Parasites in larval stage using fish as intermediate or paratenic hosts were more numerous than species maturing in fish. For example, 1913 nematodes Contracaecum spp. were recorded in one fish, whereas the digenean, Genolinea bowersi, was the most numerous maturing parasite (168 specimens in one fish).