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

Table 29. Jaccard coefficients of parasite-community similarity based on the presence of parasites
in species of five major fish families from Lake Ontario, 1930-2010.
Fish family Cyprinidae Catostomidae Salmonidae Centrarchidae
Cyprinidae 1.0000 0.0615 0.0344 0.0576
Catostomidae 0.0615 1.0000 0.0227 0.0555
Salmonidae 0.0344 0.0227 1.0000 0.0487
Centrarchidae 0.0576 0.0555 0.0487 1.0000
Percidae 0.1136 0.0921 0.0882 0.1158
OVERALL SUMMARY FOR ALL GREAT LAKES
Several factors affect the occurrence and distribution of parasites and the composition of parasite
communities in fish. These factors include the physical features of the aquatic environment, such
as its age and size, as well as the geographic range of the fish host, vagility of the fish host, the
fish habitat use and age, the fish diet and position in the trophic relationships, the location of fish
collections, and parasite-host specificity. The lack of information involving one or more of these
factors makes recognition and interpretation of patterns in the parasite-community structure of
fish in the Great Lakes difficult. Furthermore, the lack of information and of research on the
parasites of fish in the Great Lakes demonstrated in this synopsis supports this statement.
Fish-Parasite Commonality in the Great Lakes
A total of 32 parasite species or distinct genera infected fish from all five Great Lakes. These
parasites by major taxonomic group and fish species infected were protozoans—Myxobolus burti
(Notropis hudsonius), Thelohanellus notatus (several cyprinid species), Zschokkella sp. (Notropis
hudsonius); digenetic trematodes—Bunodera sacculata (primarily Perca flavescens),
Crepidostomum cooperi (several species), Phyllodistomum staffordi (Ameirus spp.), Lissorchis
attenuatus (catostomids), Clinostomum complanatum (several species), Centrovarium lobotes
(several species), Diplostomum spathaceum (several species); monogenean—Urocleidus
adspectus (Perca flavescens); cestodes—Bothriocephalus cuspidatus (several species),
Eubothrium crassum (several species), Glaridacris catostomi (catostomids), Proteocephalus
exiguus (primarily coregonids), P. pearsei (several species), P. ambloplitis (several species),
Triaenophorus nodulosus (Esox spp.); nematodes—Camallanus oxycephalus (several species),
Dichelyne cotylophora (several species), Raphidascaris acus (Esox spp. and Micropterus
dolomieu), Spinitectus gracilis (several species); acanthocephalans—Acanthocephalus dirus
(several species), Echinorhynchus salmonis (several species), Leptorhynchoides thecatus (several
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