Parasites of the Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni Norman, 1937) (Perciformes, Nototheniidae) in the Pacific sector of the Antarctic

Abstract

The Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni Norman, 1937) is one of the main target species of commercial fisheries in the Antarctic. It is an endemic and is found along the shelf of Antarctica, as well as on the slopes of seamounts, underwater elevations and islands in the sub-Antarctic. It feeds on a variety of fish and cephalopods and can be an intermediate/paratenic host of some helminthes, whose final hosts are whales, seals, large rays and sharks. This article presents new data on toothfish infection in the Pacific sector of the Antarctic. Specimens were examined during commercial longline fishing in the Ross Sea and the Amundsen Sea in January–February 2013. Fourteen species of parasites were found using standard parasitological methods and genetic analysis.

Keywords

• Toothfish
• parasites
• Antarctic fisheries
• CCAMLR
• infection
• Southern Ocean.