Aguilar-Perera, A. (2025). Prevalence of parasitic copepods (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida) from the bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix (Teleostei: Pomatomidae) and first records in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Marine Biodiversity. 55(6):1-7. Oct 2025.
Prevalence of parasitic copepods (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida) from the bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix (Teleostei: Pomatomidae) and first records in the southern Gulf of Mexico.
Marine Biodiversity
55(6):1-7. Oct 2025
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In Mexico, the diversity of parasitic copepods (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida) associated with marine fishes is poorly known. During February and December 2024, and January and February 2025, 46 bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix (Teleostei: Pomatomidae) (mean length 39.6 cm SL, SD +/- 4.92, range 28-46 cm), caught off the northwestern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, were examined, and the parasitological parameters (i.e., prevalence, mean intensity, and mean abundance) of their associated copepods were calculated. Thirty-five bluefish (41.2 cm SL, SD +/- 3.80, range 32-45 cm) were parasitized in the gills by 248 Lernanthropus pomatomi (243 females), with a prevalence of 76.1%, a mean intensity of 7.09 individuals per host, and a mean abundance of 5.39 individuals per host, including five males of L. pomatomi. Nine bluefish were parasitized by ten females of Caligus schistonyx in the gills, with a prevalence of 19.6%, a mean intensity of 1.1, and a mean abundance of 0.217, and two fish by three females of Lernaeenicus longiventris embedded in the fish musculature, with a prevalence of 4.3%, a mean intensity of 1.5, and a mean abundance of 0.065. No correlation was found between bluefish length and L. pomatomi abundance, and no significant difference in length between parasitized and non-parasitized bluefish was found. This work is the first parasitological survey of copepods from bluefish in Mexico and the first geographic record of males of L. pomatomi and females of L. longiventris in the southern Gulf of Mexico.
