Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Parasites of Small Cryptic Coral Reef Fish from the South China Sea

  • ORIGINAL PAPERS
  • Published:
Russian Journal of Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Parasites in 61 individuals of eight species of coral reef fish (Caracanthus maculatus, Scorpaenodes sp., Sebastapistes cyanostigma, Gobiodon unicolor, Paragobiodon modestus, P. echinocephalus, Pseudocheilinus hexataenia, and Halichoeres sp.) were studied in April–May 2012–2014 and November 2017. All studied fish were symbionts of corals of the genera Acropora and Pocillopora. The parasites found were the nematodes Spirocamallanusistiblenii, Raphidascaris (?) sp., and Ascarophis sp., a larva of the cestode Nybelinia sp., as well as metacercariae of the trematodes Stephanostomum sp. 1, Stephanostomum sp. 2, and Trematoda gen. sp. The low prevalence, infection rate, and diversity of parasites could be related to low population numbers of fish hosts, their efficient individual anti-parasitic defense, as well as to predation by corals that prey on dispersal stages of parasites.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Zhokhov, A.E., Pugacheva, M.N., and Mikheev, V.N., Parasites of the fish, Dascyllus reticulatus (Pisces, Pomacentridae) symbiotic on scleractinian corals in the Gulf of Nha Trang, South China Sea, Vietnam, Zool. Zh., 2017, vol. 96, no. 9, pp. 1060–1068.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Zhokhov, A.E., Ha Vo Thi, Oanh Le Thi Kieu, et al., Parasites of anemonfishes (Pomacentridae, Amphiprioninae) in the Gulf of Nha Trang, South China Sea, Vietnam, Zool. Zh., 2018, vol. 97, no. 11, pp. 1350–1362.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Zikova, A.V., Britaev, T.A., Ivanenko, V.N., and Mikheev, V.N., Planktonic and symbiotic organisms in nutrition of coralobiont fish, J. Ichthyol., 2011, vol. 51, no. 9, pp. 769–775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Allen, G.R. and Erdmann, M.V., Reef Fishes of the East Indies: Andaman Sea, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Christmas Island, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Perth, Australia: Trop. Reef Res., 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Barnett, L.J., Miller, T.L., and Cribb, T.H., Two new Stephanostomum-like cercariae (Digenea: Acanthocolpidae) from Nassarius dorsatus and N. olivaceus (Gastropoda: Nassariidae) in Central Queensland, Australia, Zootaxa, 2010, vol. 2445, pp. 35–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Barnett, L.J., Smales, L.R., and Cribb, T.H., A complex of putative acanthocolpid cercariae (Digenea) from Nassarius olivaceus and N. dorsatus (Gastropoda: Nassariidae) in Central Queensland, Australia, Zootaxa, 2008, vol. 1705, pp. 21–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Beveridge, I., Bray, R.A., Cribb, T.H., and Justine, J.-L., Diversity of trypanorhynch metacestodes in teleost fishes from coral reefs off eastern Australia and New Caledonia, Parasite, 2014, vol. 21, art. ID 60. https://doi.org/10.1051/parasite/2014060

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Cribb, T.H., Bray, R.A., Diaz, P.E., et al., Trematodes of fishes of the Indo-west Pacific: told and untold richness, Syst. Parasitol., 2016, vol. 93, pp. 237–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Dollfus, R.P., Sur une collection de Tétrarhynques homeacanthes de la famille des Tentaculariidae, récoltées principalement dans la région de Dakar, Bull. Inst. Fr. Afr. Noire, Ser. A, 1960, vol. 22, pp. 788–852.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Doupé, R.G., Lymbery, A.J., Wong, S., and Hobbs, R.P., Larval anisakid infections of some tropical fish species from north-west Australia, J. Helminthol., 2003, vol. 77, pp. 363–365.

  11. Houlbrèque, F. and Ferrier-Pagès, C., Heterotrophy in tropical scleractinian corals, Biol. Rev. Cambridge Philos. Soc., 2009, vol. 84, pp. 1–17.

  12. Kuiter, R.H. and Tonozuka, T., Pictorial Guide to Indonesian Reef Fishes, Part 1: Eels – Snappers, Muraenidae – Lutjanidae, Seaford, Australia: Zoonetics, 2001, pp. 1–302.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Kuiter, R.H. and Tonozuka, T., Pictorial Guide to Indonesian Reef Fishes, Part 2: Fusiliers – Dragonets, Caesionidae – Callionymidae, Seaford, Australia: Zoonetics, 2001, pp. 304–622.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Kuiter, R.H. and Tonozuka, T., Pictorial Guide to Indonesian Reef Fishes, Part 3: Jawfishes – Sunfishes, Opistognathidae – Molidae, Seaford, Australia: Zoonetics, 2001, pp. 623–862.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Madhavi, R. and Shameem, U., Cercariae and metacercariae of Stephanostomum cloacum (Trematoda: Acanthocolpidae), Int. J. Parasitol., 1993, vol. 23, pp. 341–347.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Mizuno, S. and Tominaga, Y., First record of the scorpaenoid fish Caracanthus unipinna from Japan, with comments on the characters of the genus, Jpn. J. Ichthyol., 1980, vol. 26, pp. 369–372.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Moravec, F. and Justine, J.-L., A new species of Ascarophis (Nematoda, Cystidicolidae) from the stomach of the marine scorpaeniform fish Hoplichthys citrinus from a seamount off the Chesterfield Islands, New Caledonia, Acta Parasitol., 2007, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 238–246.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Moravec, F. and Justine, J.-L., Two cystidicolids (Nematoda, Cystidicolidae) from marine fishes off New Caledonia, Acta Parasitol., 2009, vol. 54, no. 4, pp. 341–349.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Moravec, F., Yooyen, T., and Sanprick, A., Two nematode species from freshwater and marine fishes in Thailand, including Ascarophis scatophagi sp. nov. (Cystidicolidae) from Scatophagus argus (Scatophagidae), Acta Parasitol., 2018, vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 89–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Munday, P.L., Schubert, M., Baggio, J.A., et al., Skin toxins and external parasitism of coral-dwelling gobies, J. Fish Biol., 2003, vol. 62, pp. 976–981.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Muñoz, G. and Cribb, T.H., Infracommunity structure of parasites of Hemigymnus melapterus (Pisces: Labridae) from Lizard Island, Australia: the importance of habitat and parasite body size, J. Parasitol., 2005, vol. 91, pp. 38–44.

  22. Palm, H.W., Walter, T., Schwerdtfeger, G., and Reimer, L.W., Nybelinia Poche, 1926 (Cestoda: Trypanorhyncha) from the Moçambique coast, with description of N. beveridgei sp. nov. and systematic consideration of the genus, S. Afr. J. Mar. Sci., 1997, vol. 18, pp. 273–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Purivirojkul, W., An investigation of larval ascaridoid nematodes in some marine fish from the Gulf of Thailand, Kasetsart J.: Nat. Sci., 2009, vol. 43, pp. 85–92.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Raffel, T.R., Martin, L.B., and Rohr, J.R., Parasites as predators: unifying natural enemy ecology, Trends Ecol. Evol., 2008, vol. 23, no. 11, pp. 610–618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Rigby, M.C. and Font, W.F., Redescription and range extension of Spirocamallanus istiblenni Noble, 1966 (Nematoda: Camallanidae) from coral reef fishes in the Pacific, J. Helminthol. Soc. Wash., 1997, vol. 64, pp. 227–233.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Vidal-Martínez, V.M., Aguirre-Macedo, M.L., McLaughlin, J.P., et al., Digenean metacercariae of fishes from the lagoon flats of Palmyra Atoll, Eastern Indo-Pacific, J. Helminthol., 2012, vol. 86, pp. 493–509.

Download references

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are sincerely grateful to the administration and staff of the Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Center.

Funding

This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (projects nos. 18-05-00459a and 20-04-00239a).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Papanin Institute of Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences, 152742, Borok, Russia

    A. E. Zhokhov & M. N. Pugacheva

  2. Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Center, Nha Trang, Vietnam

    Ha Vo Thi

  3. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071, Moscow, Russia

    V. N. Mikheev

Authors
  1. A. E. Zhokhov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. N. Pugacheva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ha Vo Thi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. V. N. Mikheev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. E. Zhokhov.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interests. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Statement on the welfare of animals. All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

Additional information

Translated by T. Koznova

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhokhov, A.E., Pugacheva, M.N., Thi, H.V. et al. Parasites of Small Cryptic Coral Reef Fish from the South China Sea. Russ J Mar Biol 46, 88–96 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063074020020121

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063074020020121

Keywords:

Search

Navigation