The parasite fauna of the Norwegian spring spawning herring (Clupea harengus L.)
Tolonen, A.; Karlsbakk, E. (2003). The parasite fauna of the Norwegian spring spawning herring (Clupea harengus L.). ICES J. Mar. Sci./J. Cons. int. Explor. Mer 60: 77-84. https://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jmsc.2002.1307 In: ICES Journal of Marine Science. Academic Press: London. ISSN 1054-3139; e-ISSN 1095-9289, more |   |
| Authors | | Top | - Tolonen, A.
- Karlsbakk, E., more
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| Abstract | We examined 220 Norwegian spring spawning (NSS) herring for parasites. The samples included juvenile herring from coastal nursery areas and young or mature herring from feeding areas in the Norwegian Sea and from the wintering areas in fjords in Northern Norway. We detected 11 parasite species. The coccidian Goussia clupearum infects both young and adult fish, with increasing prevalence with age. Eimeria sardinae, a coccidian infecting the testes of males, is mostly restricted to mature fish. Spores of a myxozoan parasite, Ceratomyxa auerbachi, were only detected in fish from the wintering areas. Adult trematodes, Hemiurus spp., occurred only in young herring from a coastal sample. Adult and larval Hysterothylacium aduncum (Nematoda) infections occur predominantly in immature fish. That H. aduncum is rare in mature fish suggests that infections acquired as young are lost, and that there is virtually no transmission of the parasite in the feeding areas (continental shelf areas post-spawning and the Norwegian Sea). Cryptocotyle lingua metacercarial infections are acquired only by young herring in coastal nursery areas. The only macroparasite increasing in abundance in mature NSS herring is larvae of the nematode Anisakis simplex, this species infecting the fish also in the feeding areas. The parasite fauna of NSS herring is species poor, adult helminths occurring only in juveniles, while adult fish are host only to larvae, chiefly A. simplex. |
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