Diet and metazoan parasites of juvenile and subadult silver scabbard fish, Lepidopus caudatus, from the Great Meteor Seamount (North Atlantic).

Klimpel, Sven, Rückert, Sonja, Piatkowski, Uwe , Palm, Harry W. and Hanel, Reinhold (2006) Diet and metazoan parasites of juvenile and subadult silver scabbard fish, Lepidopus caudatus, from the Great Meteor Seamount (North Atlantic). Open Access Marine Ecology Progress Series, 315 . pp. 249-257. DOI 10.3354/meps315249.

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Abstract

Silver scabbard fish Lepidopus caudatus (Euphrasen, 1788) (Trichiuridae) from the Great Meteor Seamount (GMS) in the central eastern Atlantic were studied for diet composition and metazoan parasites. A total of 36 specimens with lengths between 39.1 and 52.2 cm were sampled, which had taken 14 different prey items belonging to 4 major taxonomic groups (Chaetognatha, Crustacea, Mollusca and Teleostei). The most abundant prey organisms were Myctophidae and Euphausiacea, followed by Copepoda (Calanoida), Decapoda, Chaetognatha and Cephalopoda. Fishes were also the dominant prey in terms of biomass. Cannibalism was observed in 7 specimens of subadult L. caudatus. A total of 11 parasite species were identified in/on L. caudatus. We established 9 new host and 8 new locality records. Infestation rates were congruent with diet composition, indicating that parasites were ingested via mesopelagic prey organisms serving as intermediate hosts. The rich parasite fauna in L. caudatus reflects a high diversity of mesopelagic species at the GMS, providing niches for parasites and their intermediate hosts. While several species such as Paradiplectanotrema lepidopi (Monogenea) and Nybelinia lingualis (Cestoda) are typical parasites of L. caudatus, other species such as Sphyriocephalus tergestinus (Cestoda), Anisakis simplex (Nematoda) and Bolbosoma vasculosum (Acanthocephala) seem to be transferred by hosts migrating into the area, indicating an important role of the GMS in the transoceanic distribution patterns of such parasites

Document Type: Article
Keywords: Ichthyology; Lepidopus caudatus; Metazoan parasites; Diet composition; Biotic relationships; Diversity; Zoogeography; Seamount
Research affiliation: OceanRep > GEOMAR > FB3 Marine Ecology > FB3-EV Marine Evolutionary Ecology
Refereed: Yes
Open Access Journal?: No
Publisher: Inter Research
Projects: MAR-ECO
Date Deposited: 03 Dec 2008 16:51
Last Modified: 31 May 2018 11:39
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/8157

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