104 specimens of notothenioid fishes of five species (Patagonotothen longipes, P. tessellata, Champsocephalus esox, Cottoperca trigloides and Patagonotothen brevicauda) caught at two sites in the Beagle Channel (Magellanic sub-region, sub-Antarctica) were examined for the presence of thorny-headed worms (Acanthocephala). Representatives of three fish species, Patagonotothen longipes, P. tessellata, and Champsocephalus esox, were infected. Fishes caught at the eastern mouth of the channel were infected with 180 echinorhynchids representing three species, Aspersentis johni (the most numerous species), Heterosentis heteracanthus, and Hypoechinorhynchus magellanicus, and only 12 cystacanths of four polymorphids, Andracantha baylisi, Corynosoma sp., Corynosoma beaglense, and Corynosoma evae. Patagonotothen longipes was the most highly infected in the eastern mouth of the channel (prevalence 85%, maximum intensity 26). Aspersentis johni was the dominant parasite species in this host (prevalence 85%, mean abundance 4.00, maximum intensity 18) and H. heteracanthus was the sub-dominant one (prevalence 50%, mean abundance 2.60, maximum intensity 25). The infections of C. esox were the most diverse (six parasite species - three echinorhynchids and three polymorphids). Fish caught near the city of Ushuaia were infected only with six cystacanths of C. evae (intensity one). Taking into account the whole sample, C. evae was the most abundant polymorphid, represented by 10 of 18 specimens found. Three species, H. heteracanthus, A. baylisi and C. evae, have been previously reported from the low western Antarctic (H. heteracanthus also from the Kerguelen sub-region of sub-Antarctic), remaining four species seem to be endemics of the Magellanic sub-region of sub-Antarctic.
The infections of four fish species, Trematomus newnesi, T. bernacchii, Lindbergichthys nudifrons and Harpagifer antarcticus with parasitic worms, in the coastal zone off the Vernadsky Station (Argentine Islands, West Antarctica) are described. Data on infections are compared with previous results from Admiralty Bay at the South Shetland Islands. Indices of infection are for each host-parasite relationship. In total, 16 taxa of parasites were recorded: 6 digeneans, 3 larval cestodes, 4 (adult and cystacanth) acanthocephalans, and 3 (adult and larval) nematodes. Fifteen of them have been previously recorded in Notothenia coriiceps from this area. Hence, the number of parasitic taxa recorded in this region increased from 21 to 22. Either the digenean Macvicaria georgiana or acanthocephalan Corynosoma pseudohamanni were dominants in different hosts. Trematomus bernacchii was the most strongly infected, especially with M. georgiana (prevalence 100%, mean abundance 113.7). The infection parameters of the majority of parasites were lower at the Vernadsky Station than in the Admiralty Bay, especially for host-parasite relations with larval cestodes and nematodes. The presently reported study have confirmed that the southern range of distribution of two acanthocephalans, Aspersentis megarhynchus and Corynosoma hamanni extends south to the area near the Argentine Islands.
Trematomus newnesi (Nototheniidae), a bentho-pelagic fish, caught off Adélie Land (eastern Antarctic) was examined for the presence of internal parasitic worms. These fishes were infected with 11 species and larval forms of parasites: Digenea (Macvicaria pennelli, Neolebouria terranovaensis, Genolinea bowersi, and Elytrophalloides oatesi), larval Cestoda (two forms of tetraphyllidean metacestodes, bilocular form and trilocular form, and diphyllobothriid plerocercoids), Acanthocephala (Metacanthocephalus campbelli, M. johnstoni) and larval Nematoda (Contracaecum osculatum, C. radiatum). Larval cestodes were the dominant parasites, whereas acanthocephalans were relatively rare. Five species and larval forms were recorded also in fish caught in the Davis Sea. A check list of parasites of T. newnesi recorded in the eastern- and western Antarctic comprises 21 species and larval forms. Probably, T. newnesi plays an important role in life cycles of parasitic worms in the Antarctic.
The aim of this study was to assess the anisakid nematode distribution pattern in the fish collected from the South Shetland Islands . A total of 32 fish species were examined for the presence of nematodes in 1978, 1979, 1981 and 2007/2008. The fish were caught off the South Shetland Islands ( Elephant Island , Shishkov Island and in Admiralty Bay – King George Island ). Three genera of L3 larval nematodes were identified: Anisakis sp., Contracaecum spp. and Pseudoterranova decipiens. The infection level was higher on the shelf around the islands than in Admiralty Bay . This is explained by a higher abundance of the final hosts in the region. A comparison of the infection data from 1978/79 and 2007/2008 with data from 1994/96 (Palm et al. 1998, 2007) was done. The parameters of infection of Notothenia coriiceps and Lepidonotothen nudifrons by Pseudoterranova decipiens were decreasing within the 30 years period.
The two bathydraconid species, Gymnodraco acuticeps and Cygnodraco mawsoni, caught in the Ross Sea (Antarctic summer 2002) were examined for internal parasites. All specimens (four G. acuticeps and one C. mawsoni) were infected. G. acuticeps harboured larval Cestoda (bilocular tetraphyllidean cercoids, diphyllobothriid plerocercoids) and Nematoda (Contracaecum spp.), acanthocephalan cystacanths and adult helminths (three species of Digenea and one species of Nematoda). Two specimens of C. mawsoni (including data from one additional specimen examined earlier) were infected by larval Cestoda (bilocular cercoid) and Nematoda (Contracaecum spp.) and adult helminths (three species of Digenea and one species of Nematoda). The present data are compared and discussed with the relevant literature data.