Морской биологический журнал (Sep 2023)
Metazoan parasites of two stickleback species at the Solovetsky Archipelago (White Sea)
Abstract
The Solovetsky Archipelago, situated in the White Sea, comprises six large islands. Out of them, the two largest ones, Bolshoy Solovetsky and Anzersky islands, possess an extensive system of lakes, streams, and canals, which are connected with each other and with the sea. The study of hydrobionts, including fish, from freshwater bodies of the Solovetsky Archipelago is of great importance for understanding historical processes of fauna formation. The freshwater ichthyofauna of the Solovetsky Islands has been monitored for almost 30 years. As a result of these long-term observations, two sticklebacks were recognized as the most abundant native fish species of the Solovetsky Archipelago: the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus and the nine-spined stickleback Pungitius pungitius. These fish play an important role in inshore and offshore communities of the White Sea, being a common prey of predatory fish species and marine mammals. There have been few parasitological studies of the White Sea sticklebacks. Most parasitological data available on sticklebacks from the White Sea concern its marine forms from various areas and sticklebacks from the river mouth areas at the White Sea coast. So far, there is no information on parasites of sticklebacks of the Solovetsky Archipelago. In this paper, we present data on parasites of two stickleback species, P. pungitius (freshwater and marine forms) and G. aculeatus (marine form), caught in the Solovetsky Archipelago waters (the White Sea). Standard parasitological investigation methods were implemented. Diplostomum spathaceum metacercariae were additionally identified with the use of mitochondrial marker cox1. The parasitic fauna of both stickleback species from two study sites at the Solovetsky Archipelago was poor. Ten parasite species belonging to Copepoda, Monogenea, Nematoda, Cestoda, and Trematoda were found. The marine three-spined stickleback caught off the coast of the archipelago was infected with 6 helminth species. The parasitic fauna of the nine-spined stickleback from a freshwater stream on Bolshoy Solovetsky Island comprised 4 helminth species, while the marine form harbored 5 species. Cryptocotyle sp. metacercariae were the most abundant and widespread parasites recorded during our study. Most of the parasite species were acquired by sticklebacks through various invertebrate food items. Zoonotic species (nematodes Eustrongylides excisus, cestodes Diphyllobothrium spp., and trematodes Cryptocotyle spp.) were revealed in fish analyzed. Further research is needed on the parasites of various fish species of the Solovetsky Archipelago, inter alia applying molecular methods.
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