Report on species of Gyrodactylus Nordmann, 1832, distribution in polar regions

The aim of this study was to compare the Gyrodactylus fauna in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Fish were collected from waters surrounding the South Shetland Islands in the Antarctic and from the Revelva River and Hornsund Fjord in south Spitsbergen in the Arctic. Eighty-two individual fish representing seven species from three families (Channichthyidae, Harpagiferidae, and Nototheniidae) were found in Antarctica and 2 Gyrodactylus infections with altogether 95 specimens were reported. Two new species were identified: Gyrodactylus sp. 1 Rokicka et al., 2009, from the gills of the black rock cod, Notothenia coriiceps Richardson, 1844, and Gyrodactylus sp. 2 Rokicka et al., 2009, from the gills of the gaudy notothen, Lepidonotothen nudifrons Lonnberg, 1905. No Gyrodactylus were found in the 95 Arctic fish examined, which represented four species from four families (Salmonidae, Gadidae, Cottidae, and Liparidae). (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. and NIPR. All rights reserved.