Ecology of Pseudoterranova decipiens (Krabbe, 1878) (Nematoda: Anisakidae) from Antarctic waters. Parasitology Research

• Main Author: Harry W Palm
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1999
• Subjects: Antarctic; South Shetland Islands; The Antarctic; Weddell; Weddell Sea; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1047.1735; http://www.marineparasitology.com/Papers/Palm%201999.pdf

Abstract The present study provides further data on the occurrence of Pseudoterranova decipiens in ®sh from two dierent sampling sites in the Antarctic. A total of 690 ®sh belonging to 33 species from the eastern Weddell Sea and 322 ®sh belonging to 12 species from the South Shetland Islands were examined. Altogether, 23 ®sh species were found to be infested and 11 new host records could be established. P. decipiens occurred at a water depth of between 80 and 820 m. Chaenocephalus aceratus and Notothenia coriiceps from the South Shetland Islands were the species with the highest prevalence (95%) and intensity (2±194 and 1±121, respectively) of infestation. Both are transport hosts, which mainly feed on benthic nototheniid ®sh species and accumulate the nematodes. Bathypelagic, pelagic, or mainly euphausid feeding ®sh species were only lightly infested, if at all. This demonstrates the benthic life cycle of P. decipiens in the Antarctic. The preferred site of infestation was the body cavity and the liver; no specimen could be isolated from the ®sh musculature. This might be explained by the low water temperatures. The infestation of ®sh from the Weddell Sea was distinctly lower than that of ®sh around the South Shetland Islands. Besides possible dierences in ®nal host populations at the two localities studied, the loss of eggs and larvae under the eastern Weddell Sea shelf ice and over the continental slope and dierences in the availability of the ®rst intermediate and macroinvertebrate hosts led to a lower level of infestation. Another role, although nondecisive, may be played by the reduced time of development and infectivity of eggs and larvae, respectively, in the extremely cold waters of the Weddell Sea. P. decipiens is not a rare but, rather a well-established parasite of the Antarctic fauna, which demonstrates the ability of this cosmopolitan species to complete its life cycle even under conditions of subzero temperatures.