ORIGINAL PAPER

• Main Authors: Sven Klimpel, Æ Harry, W. Palm, Æ Annett Seehagen
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Meganyctiphanes norvegica
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.558.1474; http://www.marineparasitology.com/Papers/Klimpel et al.2003b.pdf

Abstract A total of 37 juvenile Etmopterus spinax from the Norwegian Deep were examined for stomach con-tents and metazoan ecto- and endoparasites. These squaliform elasmobranchs were caught by benthopelagic net in May 2001 at a depth of 194–214 m. The eu-phausiid Meganyctiphanes norvegica and the teleost Maurolicus muelleri were the principal prey organisms. With increasing total length of E. spinax, the frequency ofMeganyctiphanes norvegica prey decreased and that of M. muelleri increased. Seven different metazoan parasite species were found: adult Monogenea (2), larval and adult Cestoda (3), and larval Nematoda (2). The pre-dominant parasites were an unidentified monocotylid monogenean and the cestode Aporhynchus norvegicus, with respective prevalences of infestation of 83.8 % and 81.1%. The sites of infestation were the gills (Squalon-chocotyle spinacis, Monogenea), nasal cavities (Monocotylidae indet.), body cavity (Lacistorhynchus tenuis, Cestoda), stomach wall and organs of the body cavity (Anisakis simplex, Nematoda), and stomach and spiral valve (A. norvegicus and Pseudophyllidea indet., Cestoda; Hysterothylacium aduncum, Nematoda). No other metazoan parasite taxa were found, and the musculature was free of parasites. Five new host and three new locality records were established. M. muelleri seems to be an important intermediate host for the endoparasitic nematodes which were found, with E. spinax serving as a paratenic host. E. spinax also serves as an intermediate host for the trypanorhynch cestode L. tenuis, and as the definitive host for the two mono-geneans and the trypanorhynch A. norvegicus. The latter uses Meganyctiphanes norvegica as the second interme-diate host in the Norwegian Deep. The relationship between the feeding ecology, habitat, and vagility of E. spinax and the resulting parasite fauna is discussed.