PARASITOLOGICAL INDICES OF THE PERUVIAN HAKE MERLUCCIUS GAYI PERUANUS GINSBURG, 1954 (PERCIFORMES: MERLUCCIIDAE) ACQUIRED AT THE FISHING TERMINAL OF VENTANILLA, CALLAO, PERU

Abstract

The "Peruvian hake" Merluccius gayi peruanus (Ginsburg, 1954), is the most abundant and economically important fish in the trawl fishery in Peru. The aim of this study was to assess the parasitological indices of Peruvian hake M. gayi peruanus from the Fishing Terminal of Chorrillos during the months of January to February 2014. Parasites were collected, fixed, preserved and quantified using standard procedures. A total of fifteen parasite species, with a mean total abundance and species richness of 1.55 and 0.90 was collected. Ectoparasites were represented by the monogenean Anthocotyle americana and copepod Caligus debueni and Neobrachiella insidious pacifica. Endoparasitic digeneans were Aporocotyle wilhelmi, Derogenes varicus and Lecithochirium genypteri. The tapeworms were Diphyllobothrium pacificum, Diphyllobothrium arctocephalinum, Callitetrarhynchus gracilis and Clestobothrium crassiceps. Identified nematodes were Anisakis simplex and Contracaecum sp. The acanthocephalans were Corynosoma obtuscens and Bolbosoma sp. Clestobothrium crassiceps, A. wilhelmi, A. americana and A. simplex showed the highest frequency of dominance. The prevalence and mean abundance of C. crassiceps was associated with the total length of the host. Only A. wilhelmi presented higher condition factor values of Peruvian hake in parasitized fish. Rates of interactivity (CC ) of ectoparasites and endoparasites showed that parasite communities 50 were largely non-interactive or isolated. The four nonparametric estimators Chao- 2, Jacknife-1, Bootstrap and Jacknife -2 to determine the parasite species richness indicated that an increased sampling effort of Peruvian hake is needed.