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

Percina caprodes, Sander vitreus, Apollonia melanostoma, Proterorhinus marmoratus, and
“several fish species.”
Thirty species of parasites (3 Ciliophora, 2 Myxozoa, 1 adult Digenea, 3 larval Digenea, 1 adult
Cestoda, 1 larval Cestoda, 7 adult Nematoda, 5 immature/larval Nematoda, 1 immature
Nematoda, 1 adult Acanthocephala, 3 immature Acanthocephala, 2 Hirudinea) have been reported
from fish in this lake (Table 18). Three of the studies only reported on the parasites of Apollonia
melanostoma (13 species) and Proterorhinus marmoratus (11 species). Neochasmus umbellus,
Proteocephalus sp., Raphidascaris acus, Spinitectus sp., Philometra sp., Neoechinorhynchus
tumidus, and Leptorhynchoides thecatus mature in fish. Spiroxys contortus and Spiroxys sp.
mature in turtles. Diplostomum spathaceum, Diplostomum sp., Ichthyocotylurus pileatus,
Contracaecum sp., and Eustrongylides tubifex mature in birds. The fish hosts from Lake St. Clair
with their parasites are detailed in Table 19.
Thomas and Haas (2004) collected 61 fish species plus one hybrid (Cyprinus carpio x Carassius
auratus) in American waters of Lake St. Clair from 1996-2001. Only five of these species
(Acipenser fulvescens, Coregonus clupeaformis, Micropterus salmoides, Perca flavescens,
Proterorhinus marmoratus) have been examined for parasites. Coregonus artedi, Amia calva, and
Apollonia melanostoma examined for parasites in earlier studies were not collected by Thomas
and Haas (2004).
Detroit River—Results and Discussion
Only one study (Marcogliese 2008) has reported on the parasites of a fish species from the Detroit
River. He found the Asian fish tapeworm (Bothriocephalus acheilognathi) infecting one
Pimephales promelas (Table 18). In an unpublished personal observation, two species of
Myxobolus were found infecting Notropis atherinoides (PM, Michigan State University, personal
observation, 2008). The fish hosts with their parasites from the Detroit River are documented in
Table 19.
All the parasite species reported from the St. Clair system have been found in Lakes Huron and
Erie, except for Scolex pleuronectis occurring in the St. Clair River, Neochasmus umbellus in
Lake St. Clair, and Bothriocephalus acheilognathi in the Detroit River. Also, N. umbellus has not
been reported from Lake Huron.
268