Metazoan Parasite Fauna of the Red Mullet, Mullus barbatus ponticus Essipov, 1927 in the Sinop Coasts of the Black Sea

In the present study, a total of 330 specimens the red mullet, Mullus barbatus ponticus caught in the Black Sea coasts near Sinop, Turkey were investigated throughout a 1-year period for their metazoan parasite fauna. Thirteen metazoan parasite species, Loma sp., Proctotrema bacilliovatum, Galactosomum lacteum (metacercariae), Progrillotia dasyatidis, Nybelinia sp., Scolex pleuronectis (pleurocercoid), Hysterothylacium fabri, H. aduncum, Ascarophis valentina, Capillaria sp. Contracaecum sp., unidentified larval nematode (L2) and Acanthocephaloides irregularis were identified. The overall infection prevalence and mean intensity values were 97.88% and 34.12 +/- 5.23 parasites per infected fish, respectively. Proctotrema bacilliovatum was the core species with infection prevalence of 70.61% and mean intensity value of 29.09 +/- 7.01 parasites per infected fish. The infection indice values for each parasite species were also determined and discussed according to season, length classes and sex of fish. This paper is the first report on metazoan parasite fauna of the red mullet in Turkey.