Stock identification of the sciaenid fish Micropogonias undulatus in the western North Atlantic Ocean using parasites as biological tags

• Published in: Journal of Helminthology
• Main Authors: Baker, Tiffany G., Morand, Serge, Wenner, Charles A., Roumillat, William A., de Buron, Isaure
• Other Authors: Grice Marine Laboratory Charleston, College of Charleston, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Marine Resources Research Institute, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2007
• Subjects: POPULATION-DYNAMICS; CAPE-HATTERAS; MARINE FISH; CROAKER; CAROLINA; GROWTH; GULF; AGE; DISCRIMINATION; ESTUARIES; [SDE.BE.PARA]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology/domain_sde.be.para; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/halsde-00422171; https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022149X07753920

International audience Proper fisheries management of the Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus is necessary in the United States due to the commercial and recreational importance of this fish species. Croaker stock structure in the western North Atlantic has been investigated in the past by various authors, with inconclusive results. In this study, macroparasites were used as biological tags to identify putative croaker stocks in the area between New Jersey and Florida, which encompasses the Mid Atlantic Bight and the South Atlantic Bight separated at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The macroparasite community of the fish was identified, showing the presence of 30 species in four phyla, of which several were new host records, and one species, a monogenean, was new to science. A canonical correspondence analysis was applied to determine the variables responsible for parasite species composition, to resolve the question of croaker stock structure in the western North Atlantic Ocean. This analysis showed that latitude was the deciding variable delineating the parasite community composition of the Atlantic croaker. Among the 30 parasites, 15 were identified as putative tags according to qualitative criteria, and then 10 out of those 15 were selected as being appropriate tags using quantitative criteria. These parasite tags support the presence of two stocks roughly separated at the known biogeographical barrier at Cape Hatteras.