Comparative Parasitology 67(2) 2000 - Peru State College

254 COMPARATIVE PARASITOLOGY, 67(2), JULY 2000
lines were carefully examined. Live males and
females of C. embiotocae were teased out of the
canals with fine needles. The prevalence and
mean ± SD intensity were 59.2% and 1.36 ±
0.57, respectively. There was no association between
host size and copepod intensity (n = 45,
r = 0.09, P = 0.557). Females were less prevalent
(22.4% females vs. 48.7% males) and
abundant (mean intensity of 1.0 ± 0 females vs.
1.19 ± 0.46 males) than males. There was no
significant difference in the intensity of males
compared with the intensity of females in infected
hosts (F,,54 = 2.99, P = 0.09).
Colobomatus embiotocae were also present in
C. aggregata caught in a trawl (March 1996) in
Trevor Channel on the western coast of Vancouver
Island near the Bamfield Marine Station,
British Columbia. Nineteen fish were necropsied
for the presence of C. embiotocae in the cephalic
canals. The prevalence was 68.4% and the mean
intensity was 1.62 ± 0.65. The aggregating behavior
characteristic of this fish species may be
one factor explaining the high prevalence of this
parasite, because host aggregation likely increases
contact with C. embiotocae larvae.
Only 1 of the 95 fish examined from both localities
had 2 female C. embiotocae sharing the
same canal. The presence of a gravid female
within the cephalic sensory canals may prevent
or inhibit other females from establishing themselves
within such a space-constrained microhabitat.
The 2 females were found aligned head
to furca in the left preopercular canal. All females
were recovered from either the left or
right preopercular canals. Males were found in
all of the skull's sensory canals. Only 1 male
was recovered from the lateral line, and several
males were observed exiting the fish via the
pores associated with the sensory canals.
These observations establish the first definitive
record of C. embiotocae in Canadian eastern
Pacific waters and add another species to the diverse
list of shiner perch parasites in Canada
(Margolis and Arthur, 1979; McDonald and
Margolis, 1995). Very little is known about the
population biology of philichthyid copepods,
probably because they are endoparasites inhabiting
a unique and seldom studied microhabitat
(Kabata, 1988) and are mostly found in fish species
that are of limited commercial importance
(West, 1992). We urge other investigators to include
the sensory canals and lateral line system
Copyright © 2011, The Helminthological Society of Washington
of marine fish as sites to routinely examine for
these copepods. The site and host specificity of
these unusual parasites might inspire experimental
and field-based studies examining how seasonality
and aspects of the fish host's behavior
and ecology interact to influence the parasite's
transmission dynamics.
Voucher specimens have been deposited in
the United States National Parasite Collection,
Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A. (USNPC accession
No. 87634). We thank Jason Lewis for assisting
with fish collections and Cameron Weighill for
necropsy assistance. The manuscript benefited
from constructive comments by Bob Kabata and
Cam Goater.
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