Four-year monitoring of parasite communities in gobiid fishes of the south-western Baltic

Abstract

The parasite infracommunity of five goby species (Pomatoschistus minutus, P. pictus, P.microps, Gobiusculus flavescens, Gobius niger) from the south-western Baltic was investigated during spring, summer and autumn of the years 1997–2000. The mean parasite species number in single hosts was high, ranging between 1.1 (P. minutus), 2.1 (P. pictus) to even 3.3 (P. microps). Gobius niger is the only host which lives longer than a year and is infested by almost identical parasites for longer times, i.e. the parasite species composition has greater homogeneity. Most intensity of infestation values peaked in summer and were lowest in autumn; only a few exceptions were found in spring or autumn. Only the Digenea Podocotyle atomon and Cryptocotyle concavum were abundant enough to show a clear seasonal fluctuation in Pomatoschistus minutus, P. pictus and Gobiusculus flavescens. Aphalloides timmi and Apatemon gracilis (Digenea) also attained high intensities in P. microps. These four parasite species and, additionally, Cryptocotyle lingua (Digenea), and Hysterothylacium sp. (Nematoda) can be strongly accumulated from either prey or free-swimming larvae and, thus, decisively influence the structure of the infracommunities. Due to selection by filter mechanisms, rare parasites settle rather by chance after competition with other species. The number of parasite species usually increased significantly with host growth. As many as four parasite species were found at the same time in the intestinal tract microhabitat of Gobius niger and P. minutus; at most three parasite species were present on the skin and fins or in the body cavity. The level of infection is due to the respective life history patterns and the kinds of prey, which harbour different parasites as intermediate hosts. Additionally, it depends on the time of appearance of goby offspring in the course of the year.