Parasites of Fish from the Great Lakes - Great Lakes Fishery ...

MATERIALS, METHODS, AND INTERPRETATION
Literature Analyses
Information for this synopsis was gleaned from all forms of scientific literature (theses,
dissertations, journal reports, as well as agency reports and other grey literature) on the parasites
of fish from the Great Lakes and their connecting waters. This information is presented as a
parasite-host list and as a host-parasite list. The parasite-host list is organized on a taxonomic
basis and includes for each parasite species: the major taxonomic group; family; synonym(s), if
any; the site of infection in/on the fish; the host-fish species; author(s) and date(s) of article(s);
date(s) when fish were collected; parasite prevalence (percentage of fish infected in a sample),
and/or mean intensity (mean number of individual parasites per infected fish), and/or mean
abundance (mean number of individual parasites per examined fish); and study location in the
lake, including latitude and longitude, if available. Authors responsible for this information are
listed in alphabetical order. When the site of infection for a parasite species in or on its fish host
was not provided in the original record, the site typical for that parasite on that fish host from
non-Great Lakes records was provided in brackets. If a string of different fish hosts refers to the
same study for a parasite species, the date of fish collection and latitude and longitude are
included only once with the first entry of the string. It is important to emphasize that some
data/information were difficult to interpret in some original sources and may be interpreted
differently depending on the investigator. The association of some parasitological studies with a
Great Lake may be conjecture, but we did our best to understand the data and the author(s)
interpretation. The compiled information covers the period 1871 through 2010. Studies on
viruses, bacteria, fungi, and lamprey parasitism of fish from the Great Lakes are not included in
this synopsis.
Classification and Taxonomy
The basis of the higher classification used for the Protozoa is that proposed by Lom and Dykova
(1992). Taxonomic systems for the helminth phyla and families and leeches (Hirudinea) are based
on the following sources: Monogenea and Aspidobothrea (Yamaguti 1963a; Schell 1985),
Digenea (Yamaguti 1953; Yamaguti 1971; Schell 1985; Gibson 1996); Cestoda (Wardle and
Mcleod 1952; Yamaguti 1959); Nematoda (Yamaguti 1961; Anderson 1992); Acanthocephala
(Yamaguti 1963b; Amin 2002); and Hirudinea (Klemm 1972; Klemm 1991). Classification of the
Copepoda follows that proposed by Yamaguti (1963c) and Kabata (1969, 1988), and
classification of the freshwater mussels follows that of Thorp and Covich (2001). Hoffman (1999)
was consulted for information on the taxonomic status of several parasite species if there was
ambiguity in the above sources. Current accepted scientific names are used for each parasite
species. Synonyms of parasite species used in the past are included to assist the reader in
interpreting earlier studies. Over the years, the scientific names of many parasite species have
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