Metazoan parasites of trachinid fishes (Teleostei: Trachinidae) from Tunisian coasts (Mediterranean Sea)

Abstract

host/parasite relationship and the possible use of parasites as biological tags are very important in terms of conservation. In order to expand our knowledge on the biodiversity of trachinids parasites, we have undertaken a parasitological A parasitological survey of Trachinus draco Linnaeus, 1758 ; Trachinus araneus Cuvier, 1829 and Trachinus radiatus Cuvier, 1829 collected from Tunisian coasts was performed from January 2014 to January 2015. In total, 18 species of metazoan parasites belonging to 13 genera were found: nine Myxozoa, four Nematoda, one Cestoda, one Digenea, one Monogenea, one Isopoda and one Annelida Hirudinea. Data on morphology, location and infection levels of parasites were provided. The higher species richness was recorded in Trachinus draco (18 species), while Trachinus radiatus and Trachinus araneus harbored 9 and 7 species, respectively. Species richness and diversity according to the host species and the sampling sites based on the Simpson and Shannon-Wiener indices are reported.