Polar Biol (2008) 31:1017–1021 DOI 10.1007/s00300-008-0440-1 ORIGINAL PAPER The parasite fauna of Arctogadus glacialis (Peters) (Gadidae) from western and eastern Greenland Marianne Køie · John Fleng SteVensen · Peter Rask Møller · Jørgen Schou Christiansen Received: 8 January 2008 / Revised: 29 February 2008 / Accepted: 9 March 2008 / Published online: 26 March 2008 © Springer-Verlag 2008 Abstract In all 155 specimens of the high Arctic codWsh Keywords Arctogadus · Boreogadus · Greenland · Arctogadus glacialis examined for metazoan parasites, 55 Parasites specimens were from southern and northern BaYn Bay, west- ern Greenland, and 100 specimens from north-eastern Green- land and Scoresby Sound. A total of 20 parasite taxa were Introduction recorded. A new myxozoan Gadimyxa arctica was found in southern BaYn Bay and Scoresby Sound. The gadid myxo- The codWsh Arctogadus glacialis (Peters) has a circumpolar zoan Zschokkella hildae, the digeneans Gonocerca phycidis distribution, with only few specimens caught south of the and Lecithaster gibbosus, the gill copepod Haemobaphes cycl- Arctic Circle. It has not been examined for parasites before. opterina and third-stage larvae of the nematodes Anisakis sim- The aim of the present study is to provide knowledge of the plex and Hysterothylacium aduncum were found in Scoresby parasite fauna and to relate it with the host food items and Sound only. The digenean Hemiurus levinseni and third-stage to compare the parasite fauna of A. glacialis with that of the larvae of the nematode Contracaecum sp. were found at all closely related Boreogadus saida (Lepechin). four stations. The nematodes Ascarophis spp. were found at three stations. The parasite fauna of A. glacialis from Scoresby Sound was very similar to that of 50 specimens of the closely Materials and methods related Boreogadus saida from the same area. Specimens of A. glacialis (Peters, 1874) (Gadidae) were collected from 2000 to 2005 at two stations in western and two stations in eastern Greenland waters. The number, locality, depth, date of capture, and size ranges of the M. Køie (&) · J. F. SteVensen examined specimens are listed in Table 1. Figure 1 shows Marine Biological Laboratory, the collecting stations for this study. Those from southern University of Copenhagen, 3000 Helsingor, Denmark Y W e-mail: [email protected] Ba n Bay (station 1) were caught by jigging during a eld V course party from the Arctic Station, Qeqertarssuaq; those J. F. Ste ensen Y e-mail: [email protected] from northern Ba n Bay (station 2) were bottom-trawled during a Wsh survey conducted by Greenland Institute of P. R. Møller Natural Resources. The specimens from eastern Greenland Zoological Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark, (stations 3 and 4) were caught by bottom trawling during University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark the TUNU-I and TUNU-II expeditions (Christiansen 2006). e-mail: [email protected] All Wsh were frozen immediately upon capture and transported frozen to the Marine Biological Laboratory, J. S. Christiansen Helsingor. Norwegian College of Fishery Science, W University of Tromso, 9037 Tromso, Norway In the laboratory the sh were thawed and the external e-mail: [email protected] surface of all A. glacialis, including nostrils, gills and mouth 123 1018 Polar Biol (2008) 31:1017–1021 Table 1 Sampling stations of Arctogadus glacialis and Boreogadus saida Station Position Depth Number Length (cm), Weight (g), Date (m) examined range, mean range, mean 1 Southern BaYn Bay, western Greenland 70°41ЈN, 51°56ЈW 20–50 5 35–40, 37 462–755, 580 7.07.00 2 Northern BaYn Bay, western Greenland 75°37ЈN, 66°10ЈW 492–576 50 16.0–24.0, 19.5 34–139, 69.4 24.09.04 75°40ЈN, 65°28ЈW 3 Greenland Sea, northeastern Greenland 75°24ЈN, 11°45ЈW 504 25 11.0–19.5, 13.2 10–53, 15.2 5.10.03 4 Scoresby Sound, eastern Greenland 71°09ЈN, 24°57ЈW 485 75 14.0–22.0, 17.7 18–75, 37.5 4.10.05 Scoresby Sound, eastern Greenlanda 70°30ЈN, 25°27ЈWa 620a 50a 13.5–19.5, 16.6a 20–47, 29.0a 4.10.05a a Sampling stations of Boreogadus saida Fig. 1 Sampling stations. 1 Southern BaYn Bay oV Uma- nak, western Greenland. 2 Northern BaYn Bay, north- western Greenland. 3 Greenland Sea, northeastern Greenland. 4 Scoresby Sound, eastern Greenland as well as the internal organs, eyes, body cavity and brain, once in a gallbladder of A. glacialis from Scoresby Sound. were examined. Smears of kidney, urine, urinary bladder It was not identical with S. sinuosa Shulman, 1953 described wall, bile and gall bladder wall were examined at high from the urinary bladder of B. saida from the White Sea. magniWcation (min. 10 £ 20). The various parasites were Wxed in Berland’s Xuid (glacial acetic acid: 40% formalde- Platyhelminthes: Digenea and Cestoda hyde, 19:1), cleared in lactic acid and mounted in glycerine jelly. The hemiuroid digeneans Hemiurus levinseni Odhner, 1905 (Hemiuridae), Derogenes varicus (Müller, 1784) (Derogen- idae) and Lecithaster gibbosus (Rudolphi, 1802) (Lecithas- Results teridae) were found in A. glacialis from four, three and one stations, respectively. They were all found in B. saida from The parasite fauna of A. glacialis from stations 1–4 are Scoresby Sound. Five digenean specimens that were found shown in Table 2. The parasite fauna from Scoresby Sound in the stomach of A. glacialis from station 3 were full of (station 4) was compared with that of B. saida from the eggs preventing a study of morphological details. They same station. were tentatively identiWed as either Genolinea sp. (Bunoco- tylidae) or Lecithophyllum sp. (Lecithasteridae). The eggs Myxozoa measured 25–30 £ 18–20 m and are thus smaller than those of known species of Genolinea and Lecithophyllum. A new species Gadimyxa arctica Køie et al., 2007 (see One specimen of Gonocerca phycidis Manter, 1925 (Dero- Køie et al. 2007) and Zschokkella hildae Auerbach, 1909 genidae) was found in the stomach of an 18.0 cm long (Myxosporea, Bivalvulida, Myxidiidae) were found in the A. glacialis from station 4. urinary system of A. glacialis (Table 2). Spores belonging Tetraphyllid larvae (Tetraphyllidea) and small pseudo- to Sinuolinea sp. (Bivalvulida, Sinuolineidae) were found phyllid larvae (Pseudophyllidea) were found free in the 123 Polar Biol (2008) 31:1017–1021 1019 Table 2 Records of metazoan parasites of Arctogadus glacialis from western and eastern Greenland compared with those of Boreogadus saida from Scoresby Sound Parasite taxa Arctogadus glacialis Boreogadus saida 1 Southern 2 Northern 3 Greenland 4 Scoresby Scoresby BaYn Bay, western BaYn Bay, western Sea, eastern Sound, eastern Sound, eastern Greenland [5] Greenland [50] Greenland [25] Greenland [75] Greenland [50] Zschokkella hildae – – – (8) 11% (14) 28% Myxidium sp. – – – (1) 1.3% – Sinuolinea sp. – – – (1) 1.3% – Gadimyxa arctica (1) 20% – – (5) 7% – Hemiurus levinseni (2) 40%1–3, 1.5 (10) 20%1–6, 2.3 (2) 8%1, 1 (44) 59% 1–40, 4.5 (33) 66% 1–15, 4.4 Derogenes varicus (3) 60%1–9, 5.3 (1) 2%, 1, 1 – (9) 12% 1, 1 (6) 12% 1–4, 2 Genolinea sp./ Lecithophyllum sp. – – (3) 12%1–3, 1.7 – – Gonocerca phycidis – – – (1) 1.3% 1, 1 – Lecithaster gibbosus – – – (14) 19% 1–22, 5.4 (10) 20% 1–8, 3.2 Tetraphyllid larva – – – (1) 1.3% 2, 2 – Pseudophyllid larva (2) 40%1–2, 1.5 – – (2) 2.7% 1–3, 1.5 (1) 2% 1, 1 Anisakis simplex larva – – – (11) 15% 1–4, 1.3 (2) 4% 1, 1 Contracaecum osculatum larva (4) 80%2–6, 4.5 (41) 82%1–7, 3.0 (9) 36%1–2, 1.3 (59) 79% 1–8, 2.5 (35) 70% 1–8, 2.1 Hysterothylacium aduncum larva – – – (1) 1.3% 1, 1 (2) 4% 1, 1 Ascarophis morrhuae (3) 60%1–3, 2.0 (40) 80%1–15, 4.8 – (11) 15% 1–3, 1.7 – Ascarophis 1 (5) 100%1–6, 2.2 – – – – Ascarophis 2 juvenile – – – (5) 7% 1–2, 1.4 – Ascarophis sp. juvenile – – – – (1) 2% 18, 18 Echinorhynchus sp. (1) 20%1, 1 – – – – Corynosoma sp. juvenile – – (2) 8%1, 1 (6) 8% 1–2, 1.2 – Clavella adunca – – – – (6) 12% 1–5, 1.7 Haemobaphes cyclopterina – – – (2) 3% 1, 1 (2) 4% 1, 1 The number of examined Wsh is in square brackets. The number of specimens infected is in brackets, the prevalence is shown in % and the ranges and mean intensities of infection (number of infected specimens per number of all infected specimens) are shown digestive system of A. glacialis from station 4, and 1 and 4, only undeveloped eggs. Ascarophis morrhuae (Van Bene- respectively. den, 1871) was found in the stomach and intestine of A. glacialis from both western and eastern Greenland. Nematoda, Acanthocephala and Copepoda One juvenile specimen of Echinorhynchus sp. (Ech- inorhynchidae) was found in the intestine of A. glacialis Encapsulated third-stage larvae of Anisakis simplex (Rudol- from station 1. Encapsulated juvenile specimens of Coryno- phi, 1845) (sensu lato) (Ascaridida, Anisakidae) were soma sp. (Polymorphidae) were found externally on the found externally on the pyloric caeca of A. glacialis from pyloric caeca of A. glacialis from eastern Greenland. station 4. The infected Wsh measured 16.0–22.0 cm, mean Haemobaphes cyclopterina (Fabricius, 1780) (Pennellidae) 18.9 cm. Third-stage larvae of Contracaecum sp. (Ascarid- was found on the gills of two specimens of A. glacialis ida, Anisakidae) were found at all stations. Up to 4.5 cm from station 4. long encapsulated larvae were found externally on the pylo- ric caeca and intestine and specimens a few mm long were sometimes found free in the stomach. A third-stage larva of Discussion Hysterothylacium aduncum (Rudolphi, 1802) (sensu lato) (Ascaridida, Raphidascarididae) was found once on the Arctogadus glacialis has a wide habitat range and occurs in caeca of a specimen of A.