Discrimination of Red Mullet Populations (Teleostean, Mullidae) Off the Sicilian Coasts (Mediterranean Sea) on the Basis
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Discrimination of Red Mullet Populations (Teleostean, Mullidae) Off the Sicilian Coasts (Mediterranean Sea) on the Basis of Metazoan Parasites Teresa Bottari 1,2 & G. Gaglio 3 & V. Mobilia 4 & G. Garofalo 5 & C. Iaria 6 & F. Fiorentino 5 Received: 1 October 2019 / Revised: 7 January 2020 / # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Knowledge on fish stock units and their boundaries is still poor in the Mediterranean despite the relevance of this information for developing accurate stock assessment and effectively managing fisheries. The aim of this work is to identify parasite species that might serve as biological tags for discrimination of red mullet stocks Mullus barbatus and M. surmuletus, off the northern and southern coasts of Sicily (central Mediterranean). Stephanostomum sp. metacercariae were selected as good biological tags for M. barbatus and M. surmuletus. Specimens caught in the Strait of Sicily showed a high level of metacercariae infections while no infected fish was found in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. Furthermore, cestode larvae (order Trypanorhyncha), and adult and larval digeneans were considered suitable as biological tags for stock discrimination in M. surmuletus, presenting statistically different epidemiological levels between the two areas. Results suggest a likely occurrence of distinct populations of red mullets in two areas of the central Mediterranean on the basis of parasite infestations. Keywords Parasite . Red mullet . Striped red mullet . Stock discrimination . Mediterranean Sea
Introduction Knowledge on stock structure of commercial species is considered essential for accurate stock assessment and effective fisheries management. Nonetheless, stock boundaries are often uncertain for many fish species (Cadrin and Secor 2009). * Teresa Bottari [email protected] 1
Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology (IRBIM), Messina, National Research Council (CNR), Spianata S. Raineri, 86, 98122 Messina, Italy
2
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Centro Interdipartimentale della Sicilia, Messina, Italy
3
Department of Veterinary Sciences, Polo Universitario dell’Annunziata, University of Messina, 98168 Messina, Italy
4
School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
5
Institute for Marine Resources Biotechnology (IRBIM), Section of Mazara del Vallo (TP), National Research Council (CNR), via Luigi Vaccara 61, 91026 Mazara del Vallo, (TP), Italy
6
Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, via F. Stagno d’Alcontres 31, 98165 Messina, Italy
Fishery management unit boundaries, e.g. practical management units, statistical areas of occurrences, or putative unit stock areas, are often mismatched with the effective spatial distribution of the biological populations (Hammer and Zimmermann 2005). Consequently, the notion of stock unity in stock assessment models may be incorrect and thus severely affect the effectiveness of fishery management for many fisher
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