Image_1_New Parasite Records for the Sunfish Mola mola in the Mediterranean Sea and Their Potential Use as Biological Tags for Long-Distance Host Migration.TIF
Studies describing the parasite fauna of sunfish species from the Mediterranean Sea are to date limited, despite information gained through parasitological examination may reveal unknown ecological and biological aspects of both hosts and parasites. Moreover, recent molecular studies on sunfish taxonomy revealed the presence of two species belonging to the genus Mola in the Mediterranean basin, namely M. mola and M. alexandrini. These two fish taxa have long been synonymized or confused among them, which implies that the majority of the studies carried out so far reported the parasites infecting both species under a single host species, generally referred to as M. mola. We hereby investigated the parasite fauna of a 43 cm long M. mola specimen from the Mediterranean Sea, whose identification was confirmed by molecular tool, and provided the first evidence of the occurrence of the nematode Anisakis simplex (s.s.) and of the cestode Gymnorhynchus isuri in Mola species anywhere. The use of helminth species as biological tags for the sunfish is also discussed.
History
Usage metrics
Categories
- Animal Systematics and Taxonomy
- Veterinary Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care
- Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology
- Veterinary Diagnosis and Diagnostics
- Veterinary Epidemiology
- Veterinary Immunology
- Veterinary Medicine
- Veterinary Microbiology (excl. Virology)
- Veterinary Parasitology
- Veterinary Pathology
- Veterinary Pharmacology
- Veterinary Surgery
- Veterinary Virology
- Veterinary Sciences not elsewhere classified
- Animal Physiology - Biophysics
- Animal Physiology - Cell
- Animal Physiology - Systems
- Animal Behaviour
- Animal Cell and Molecular Biology
- Animal Developmental and Reproductive Biology
- Animal Immunology
- Animal Neurobiology
- Animal Physiological Ecology
- Animal Structure and Function