First report of two parasitic copepods of Pampus argenteus (Stromateidae) in west of Persian Gulf, Iran

A survey on parasitic copepods was carried out on Pampus argenteus Euphrasen, 1788 in Hormozgan province. Totally, 62 specimens were caught by bottom trawl from northwest of Qeshm Island in summer 2010 and winter 2011. These were immediately frozen in on-board deep freezer of fishing vessel. All samples were transferred to laboratory and after measuring fish weight and length, parasitological survey implemented by stereo-and light microscopes on body surface and gill cavities of the host. Individuals belong to two species of parasitic copepods were removed from the inner surface of the operculum and gill filaments of the host. The collected parasites were Nothobomolochus triceros (Basset- Smith, 1898) and Paralebion aliuncus (Rangnekar, 1955). The prevalence, mean intensity and abundance of parasites were as follows: N. triceros (6.45%, 0.8 ± 0.71 and 0.06) and P. aliuncus (1.61%, 0.2 ± 0.17 and 0.01), respectively. Both species of copepod parasites are reported, for the first time, from Iran.