The importance of gobies (Gobiidae, Teleostei) as hosts and transmitters of parasites in the SW Baltic

Abstract

The parasite fauna of five goby species (Gobiidae, Teleostei) was investigated in the Baltic Sea during the period 1987 to 1990. 13 parasite species were found in samples from the Lübeck Bight:Bothriocephalus scorpii, Schistocephalus sp. (Cestoda);Cryptocotyle concavum, Cryptocotyle lingua, Podocotyle atomon, Derogenes varicus (Digenea);Hysterothylacium sp. (cf. auctum), Contracaecum sp., Anisakis simplex (Nematoda);Corynosoma sp., Echinorhynchus gadi, Neoechinorhynchus rutili, Pomphorhynchus laevis (Acanthocephala). The number of parasite species were: 10 in the sand goby Pomatoschistus minutus, 8 in the black goby Gobius niger, 7 in the two-spotted goby Gobiusculus flavescens, 6 in the common goby Pomatoschistus microps, and 5 in the painted goby Pomatoschistus pictus. Neoechinorhynchus rutili occurred only in P. minutus, and Corynosoma sp. only in G. niger. The extent to which the gobies were parasitized clearly depended on the respective ways of life and, moreover, on the kind of prey ingested by the hosts. Additionally, the age of the hosts might be important. The highest rate of parasitism, more than 60%, was reached by Hysterothylacium sp. in G. niger and by Cryptocotyle concavum in P. microps. Infestation incidence lay mostly below 40% which means a satellite species status (Holmes, 1991). The number of parasite species was highest in summer; the highest intensities of single parasites occurred in spring (Podocotyle atomon) or autumn (Crytocotyle concavum). Bothriocephalus scorpii, Hysterothylacium sp. and Podocotyle infested their juvenile hosts very early, but only Hysterothylacium was accumulated by G. niger during its whole life span, whereas Bothriocephalus persisted also in older gobies in low intensities. The cercariae of Cryptocotyle spp. penetrate actively into their hosts; all the other parasites named were transmitted in larval form by prey organisms which consisted mainly of planktonic and benthic crustaceans. The gobies were final hosts for only 5 parasites; but two species may be transmitted to larger fish, and 6 species to sea birds or mammals. The parasite community of the five gobies may possibly be taken to characterize the ecological quality of the environment of the Lübeck Bight. © 1993 Biologische Anstalt Helgoland.