Parasitological Records of Eight Rockfish Species (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae) from Pacific Baja California, Mexico

This study reports parasitological records of eight species of marine rockfishes (Sebastes auriculatus, S. chlorostictus, S. umbrosus, S. miniatus, S. atrovirens, S. constellatus, S. serranoides, and Scorpaena guttata) collected from Todos Santos bay and San Quintin coast, Baja California, Mexico. The vermilion rockfish, S. miniatus, showed the highest parasite species richness (two species of monogeneans, two species of digeneans, three species of nematodes and one species of copepods), while the lowest richness was found in S. atrovirens and S. umbrosus (one species of copepod and one species of nematode, respectively). The species S. auriculatus, S. chlorostictus, S. constellatus, S. serranoides, and S. guttata showed a richness of up to four parasite species. Seven of the eight fish species (except S. atrovirens) presented larval stages of nematodes Anisakis sp., Pseudoterranova sp. and Hysterothylacium sp. (prevalences ranging from 8.3 to 100%), which were found in the fish mesentery (guts). The parasite species with the highest prevalence values (>80%) were found in S. miniatus (Anisakis sp.), S. guttata (Anisakis sp. and Hysterothylacium sp.), S. umbrosus (Anisakis sp.), S. auriculatus (Anisakis sp.), and S. constellatus (Anisakis sp.). The most abundant parasite species (>4 ind./host) were recorded in S. guttata (Anisakis sp. and Hysterothylacium sp.), S. umbrosus (Anisakis sp.), S. constellatus (Parabothriocephalus sagitticeps), and S. miniatus (Anisakis sp.). The parasite species with the highest intensity of infection values (>5 ind./host) were found in S. constellatus (P. sagitticeps), followed by S. guttata (Anisakis sp., Hysterothylacium sp.), S. umbrosus (Anisakis sp.), and S. serranoides (Microcotyle sebastis). The present study, in addition to listing the helminths and parasitic copepod species (and providing quantitative data on them) of eight commercially important scorpaenid fish species in the northwestern Mexico, can also serve as a baseline for future parasitological studies on these fish species.