Metazoan parasite fauna of the round goby Neogobius melanostomus Pallas, 1811 (Perciformes : Gobiidae) collected from the Black Sea coast at Sinop, Turkey

Abstract

Round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) were collected from a small stream connected to the Black Sea coast of Sinop, Turkey and examined for metazoan parasites. A total of 122 gobies was investigated throughout a 1-year period. Long-term investigations can be useful for finding rare parasites and for determining the diversity and seasonality of parasites. Parasite species recovered were a Digenea gen. sp., Pygidiopsis genata, Ascocotyle sp., Gyrodactylus proterorhini, Dichelyne minutus, Hysterothylacium aduncum, Spiroxys sp., Neoechinohynchus rutilii, and Ergasilus sieboldi. Overall infection prevalence (%) and mean intensity values were 97.5% and 78.2 +/- 23.1 parasites per infected fish, respectively. Infection prevalence and mean intensity values for each parasite species in relation to season, fish size, and sex were also determined and discussed.