TY  - JOUR
A1  - Alt, Katharina
A1  - Kuhn, Thomas
A1  - Münster, Julian
A1  - Klapper, Regina
A1  - Kochmann, Judith
A1  - Klimpel, Sven
T1  - Mesopredatory fishes from the subtropical upwelling region off NW-Africa characterised by their parasite fauna
T2  - PeerJ
N2  - Eastern boundary upwelling provides the conditions for high marine productivity in the Canary Current System off NW-Africa. Despite its considerable importance to fisheries, knowledge on this marine ecosystem is only limited. Here, parasites were used as indicators to gain insight into the host ecology and food web of two pelagic fish species, the commercially important species Trichiurus lepturus Linnaeus, 1758, and Nealotus tripes Johnson, 1865. Fish specimens of T. lepturus (n = 104) and N. tripes (n = 91), sampled from the Canary Current System off the Senegalese coast and Cape Verde Islands, were examined, collecting data on their biometrics, diet and parasitisation. In this study, the first parasitological data on N. tripes are presented. T. lepturus mainly preyed on small pelagic Crustacea and the diet of N. tripes was dominated by small mesopelagic Teleostei. Both host species were infested by mostly generalist parasites. The parasite fauna of T. lepturus consisted of at least nine different species belonging to six taxonomic groups, with a less diverse fauna of ectoparasites and cestodes in comparison to studies in other coastal ecosystems (Brazil Current and Kuriosho Current). The zoonotic nematode Anisakis pegreffii occurred in 23% of the samples and could pose a risk regarding food safety. The parasite fauna of N. tripes was composed of at least thirteen species from seven different taxonomic groups. Its most common parasites were digenean ovigerous metacercariae, larval cestodes and a monogenean species (Diclidophoridae). The observed patterns of parasitisation in both host species indicate their trophic relationships and are typical for mesopredators from the subtropical epi- and mesopelagic. The parasite fauna, containing few dominant species with a high abundance, represents the typical species composition of an eastern boundary upwelling ecosystem.
KW  - Food-web
KW  - Nealotus tripes
KW  - Subtropical East-Atlantic
KW  - Trichiurus lepturus
KW  - Eastern boundary upwelling ecosystem
KW  - Canary Current
Y1  - 2018
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/46582
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-465829
SN  - 2167-8359
N1  - Distributed under Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0
VL  - 6
IS  - e5339
SP  - 1
EP  - 21
PB  - PeerJ, Inc.
CY  - London [u. a.]
ER  -