Food and parasitic nematodes of saithe, Pollachius virens (L.), from the Faroe Islands
Højgaard, D.P. (1999). Food and parasitic nematodes of saithe, Pollachius virens (L.), from the Faroe Islands. Sarsia 84: 473-478
In: Sarsia. University of Bergen. Universitetsforlaget: Bergen. ISSN 0036-4827; e-ISSN 1503-1128, more
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| Abstract |
Food items and metazoan parasites were identified from the stomachs of 80 yearlings and 150 two- year-old saithe (Pollachius virens (L.)), sampled from the coastal waters of the Faroe Islands. Of a total of 65 food items found, 47 were identified to species or genus. Yearlings fed mainly on Parathemisto spp., euphausiids, Pandalus sp. and Aphrodita aculeate, while the two-year-old saithe exploited mainly euphausiids (especially Meganyctiphanes norvegica), sandeels (Ammodytes spp.) and gastropods (especially Littorina spp.). Parasites found included the nematodes Anisakis simplex, Contracaecum sp., Hysterothylacium aduncum and Cucullanus cirratus; the copepod crustaceans Caligus sp. and Clavella sp.; the acanthocephalan Echinorhynchus gadi; a single digenean trematode; and a single cestode plerocercoid. Adult saithe from the Faroe Shelf preyed mainly on fish (Trisopterus esmarki, Micromesistius poutassou and Melanogrammus aglefinus), and saithe from Faroe Bank on M. norvegica. A discussion on a possible transmission route of A. simplex larvae is given. |
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