Habitat quality and endoparasitism in the Pacific sanddab Citharichthys sordidus from Santa Monica Bay, southern California.

摘要

Prevalence, mean abundance and mean intensity of the most common endohelminths infecting Pacific sanddab Citharichthys sordidus were compared among six trawl stations in the Santa Monica Bay. These trawl stations varied in their distance from the 8 km effluent of the Hyperion treatment plant which is situated adjacent to Santa Monica Bay. Juvenile stages of Anisakis sp., Corynosoma sp., Lacistorhynchus dollfusi and Tetraphyllidean plerocercoids were found infecting Pacific sanddabs. Significantly higher prevalence and mean intensity of L. dollfusi and Anisakis sp. were seen at the non-outfall stations compared to outfall stations either immediately surrounding or in the vicinity of the outfall. These differences appeared to be related to changes in invertebrate population densities in response to the presence of contaminants. Canonical analysis of discriminance using parasite abundance data discriminated non-outfall from outfall stations. The cestode L. dollfusi explained most of the variability in discriminant scores generated from the analysis and appears to warrant further investigation as a potential bioindicator of pollution exposure in its fish host..