Resumen de Use of parasites as biological tags in stock identification of the black scabbardfish, Aphanopus carbo Lowe, 1839 (Osteichthyes: Trichiuridae) from Portuguese waters
María Joao Santos, Aurélia Saraiva, Cristina Cruz, Jorge C. Eiras, Margarida Hermida, Carla Ventura, Joao Paolo Soares
We studied the use of parasites as biological tags for discriminating fish stocks of Aphanopus carbo (Osteichthyes: Trichiuridae) from Portugal (Sesimbra on the mainland, Madeira and the Azores). Sixteen different metazoan parasites were found (14 from Madeira, 9 from Sesimbra and 7 from the Azores). Some parasites occurred only in fish from Madeira. The prevalence and mean intensity of the infection was recorded for each parasite and locality, and their values were statistically compared between the three sampling localities and related to host length classes. The differences between some of these parameters were statistically significant among the three localities or between two of them. It is suggested that 6 parasites (Tentacularia coryphaenae, Sphyriocephalus tergestinus, Campbelliella heteropoeciloacantha, Anisakis spp., Bolbosoma vasculosum and unidentified Acanthocephala larvae) can be used as biological tags to discriminate Portuguese stocks of Aphanopus carbo.
