Biodiversity and structure of parasite communities in Boops boops (Teleostei: Sparidae) from the Western Mediterranean and off the North East Atlantic coasts of Spain.

• Main Author: Pérez-del-Olmo, Ana
• Other Authors: Kostadinova, Aneta, Fernández Martínez, Mercedes, Raga Esteve, Juan Antonio, Universitat de València. Departament de Zoologia
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Universitat de València 2008
• Subjects: Facultat de Biològiques; 59; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.tdx.cat/TDX-0611109-140500; http://hdl.handle.net/10803/10353

The present study carried out a detailed assessment of the metazoan parasite fauna in Boops boops (Sparidae) along the Spanish coasts off the Western Mediterranean and North-East Atlantic, which provided taxonomically consistent dataset comprising three levels of parasite community organisation that allowed questions regarding the structure of parasite communities to be addressed. The diversity of the parasite fauna of B. boops appeared to be higher than previously thought, as evidenced by the description of one new species, Wardula bartolii Pérez-del-Olmo et al., 2006 and the recovery of 53 parasite species (25 new host records). The complete checklist of parasites of this host throughout its distributional range comprises 78 species and 365 host-parasite-area records. A group of nine species with a wide geographical distribution was identified as the core of the parasite fauna of B. boops. The regional parasite fauna of B. boops was richest in the North-East Atlantic. There was a clear separation of the North-East Atlantic and Mediterranean local faunas, with a 'transition' location occupying an intermediate position. Local parasite faunas were generally diverse. There was a high representation of parasites with complex life-cycles, transmitted via food ingestion, mostly trematodes. The phylogenetic influence on the parasite communities in B. boops is rather weak, since generalist parasites comprised a considerable part of communities. The species of the core parasite fauna of B. boops were already present in juvenile fish, whereas all species added to communities in larger fish were rare/accidental. The observed sequence of species appearance and persistence supported the hypothesis that species with wide geographical distributions appear in the fish population earlier than rare/stochastic species. Parasite communities were rich and abundant from an early age. Six species of the core parasite fauna of B. boops were identified as key parasites in developing communities since they persisted as common in all ...