Taxonomy of the metazoan parasites of the snapperpagrus auratusin new zealand

Abstract

The metazoan parasites of the snapperPagrus auratuswere surveyed from specimens collected in north-eastern New Zealand. Nine speciesof ectoparasites were recorded. These included fivemonogeneans (Benedenia sekiion the body surface,Anoplodiscus cirruspiralison the caudal fin, andLamellodiscus pagrosomi, Choricotyle australiensis,andBivagina pagrosomiattached to the gills) andfour copepods (Unicolax chrysophryenuswithin thenasal sinuses,Lepeophtheirus sekiiand two speciesofCaligusfree on the body surface). A further twocopepods,Hatschekia pagrosomiandClavellopsissargi,previously described from snapper but notcollected during this study, bring the total numberof ectoparasites known to parasitise snapper in NewZealand to 11. The twoCaligusspecies recordedfrom the body surface ofPagrus auratusin this studyare described for the first time. They are significantlydifferent from those described previously by Roubalet al. and Byrnes. The faunal composition of themetazoan ectoparasites ofP. auratusfrom New Zealand is compared with that described from snapperin Australia and Japan. © 1995 Crown.