Cardicola forsteri (Digenea: Sanguinicolidae) from the Heart of a Northern Bluefin Tuna, Thunnas thynnus (Scombridae), in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

• Main Authors: Bullard, Stephen A., Goldstein, Robert J., Goodwin, Robert H., III, Overstreet, Robin M.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: The Aquila Digital Community 2004
• Subjects: Cardicola forsteri; Sanguinicolidae; Digenea; blood fluke; Thunnus thynnus; northern bluefin tuna; scombridae; heart; northewest Atlantic Ocean; cage; aquaculture; disease; Life Sciences; Marine Biology; Cape Lookout; Lookout; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/3089; http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1428&context=parasitologyfacpubs

We report a specimen of Cardicola forsteri Cribb, Daintith, and Munday, 2000 (Digenea: Sanguinicolidae) from the lumen of the heart of a northern bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Scombridae), that was 218 cm in total length (TL) and C caught in the northwest Atlantic Ocean 12 km South of Cape Lookout, North Carolina. The hearts of 12 similarly sized northern bluefin tuna (127-262 cm TL) front George's Bank, northwest Atlantic Ocean, were not infected. This is the first report of C. forsteri from a wild host and of a sanguinicolid from any scombrid in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Bluefin tuna is cultured in sea cages because Of its highly prized flesh, and the fact that a blood fluke infects this host is significant because some blood flukes have been identified as serious pathogens of cage-cultured fish.