Diversity Of Metazoan Parasites Of Two Reef Associated Fish Species From Qatar (Acanthopagrus Bifasciatus And Pomacanthus Maculosus)

Abstract

The aim of the present work was to study the parasitic diversity of two coral-reef associated fish species (Acanthopagrus bifasciatus and Pomacanthus maculosus) from Qatari waters. There were eight species of parasites encountered during the present study: five ecto-parasites (Polylabris mamaevi, Alella sp., Caligus haemulonis, Lernanthropus sarbae and Pranzia larva of Gnathia africana) and three endo-parasites (Stephanostomum sp., Dujardinascaris sp. and Cucullanus sp.). Description of the encountered parasites and comparison with previously described related species was conducted. According to present data, four parasites were considered as new records in the Arabian Gulf (Polylabris mamaevi, Caligus haemulonis, Lernanthropus sarbae and Pranzia larva of Gnathia Africana) and seven parasites are considered as new records in Qatari waters (Polylabris mamaevi, Alella sp., Caligus haemulonis, Lernanthropus sarbae and Pranzia larva of Gnathia Africana, Dujardinascaris sp. and Cucullanus sp.) Acanthopagrus bifasciatus is considered a new host for five parasites (Polylabris mamaevi, Alella sp., Caligus haemulonis, Lernanthropus sarbae and Pranzia larva of Gnathia Africana), while Pomacanthus maculosus is considered a new host for three parasites (Polylabris mamaevi, Stephanostomum sp. and Pranzia larva of Gnathia africana.). Anatomical observations in the fish host, microhabitat of the parasites, mixed infection, host specificity, relationship between fish size and infection, spatial variations and parasite infection and gut contents are also discussed in detail