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

Echinorhynchus salmonis infected 20 fish species, Acanthocephalus dirus infected 9 species, and
Leptorhynchoides thecatus infected 15 species. Immature individuals of Leptorhynchoides
thecatus occurred encysted in the mesentery of Fundulus diaphanus menona.
Leeches
Four species of leeches (Actinobdella inequiannulata, A. pediculata, Myzobdella lugubris, and
Piscicola sp.) in two families occurred on the gill cover, fins, and body surface of fish.
Myzobdella lugubris was found on six fish species.
Crustaceans
Eight species of parasitic copepods in three families were found on the body surface, fins, gills,
and gill arches of Lake Ontario fish. Four species of the genus Ergasilus were reported. Ergasilus
caeruleus and E. centrarchidarum occurred on eight and five fish species, respectively. Achtheres
coregoni only infected Coregonus clupeaformis, Achtheres pimelodi only infected centrarchids,
and Salmincola extumescens infected five species of coregonines.
Molluscs
Glochidia (larval stage) of three mollusc species have been reported from the fins and/or gills of
fish. Glochidia of Anodonta sp. and Elliptio complanatus have been found on Perca flavescens.
Glochidia of Lampsilis radiata siliquoidea occurred on Perca flavescens and three other species.
Fish Species—Parasite Analyses Overview
Parasites have been reported from 60 (57%) of the 106 established fish species in 21 families in
Lake Ontario (Table 27). Most of these species (34) are in four families–Cyprinidae (12),
Salmonidae (9), Centrarchidae (7), and Percidae (6). In terms of parasitological studies, 35 of the
61 species have been studied only once (Acipenser fulvescens, Lepisosteus osseus, Amia calva,
Anguilla rostrata, Alosa pseudoharengus, Couesius plumbeus, Cyprinus carpio, Luxilus cornutus,
Notropis atherinoides, Phoxinus neogaeus, Pimephales notatus, P. promelas, Rhinichthys
cataractae, Catostomus commersonii, Moxostoma erythrurum, Ictalurus punctatus, Noturus
flavus, N. gyrinus, Esox masquinongy, Umbra limi, Oncorhynchus kisutch, O. mykiss, Salvelinus
fontinalis, Percopsis omiscomaycus, Labidesthes sicculus, Culaea inconstans, Cottus bairdii, C.
cognatus, Morone chrysops, Pomoxis annularis, Etheostoma caeruleum, E. exile, Percina
caprodes, Sander vitreus, and Aplodinotus grunniens) and nine have been studied only twice
(Dorosoma cepedianum, Notemigonus crysoleucas, Lepomis macrochirus, Rhinichthys obtusus,
Moxostoma macrolepidotum, Esox lucius, Coregonus kiyi, Salvelinus namaycush, Pomoxis
nigromaculatus). The most-studied species were Ambloplites rupestris (10 studies) and Perca
flavescens (13 studies). The most-parasitized fishes in terms of numbers of parasite species
present were Perca flavescens (45), Lepomis gibbosus (37), Ambloplites rupestris (31), Morone
americana (24), Catostomus commersonii (23), and Notropis hudsonius (19).
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