TY - JOUR
T1 - Parasite communities in the red mullet, Mullus barbatus L., respond to small-scale variation in the levels of polychlorinated biphenyls in the Western Mediterranean
AU - Carreras-Aubets, Marta
AU - Montero, Francisco Esteban
AU - Kostadinova, Aneta
AU - Carrassón, Maite
PY - 2012/9/1
Y1 - 2012/9/1
N2 - We examined parasite populations and communities in the Mediterranean sentinel fish species, Mullus barbatus, sampled at a small-scale PCB gradient at the shelf sediments off Catalonian coasts of the Western Mediterranean. A recurrent feature at both the population and community level was the differentiation of the samples along the increasing PCB levels simultaneously registered in the sediments. Both directly transmitted ectoparasites and endoparasites with complex life-cycles transmitted via food chains exhibited a decrease in abundance with the increase in PCB levels. Parasite numerical responses translated into significant differences in infracommunity structure with decreasing predictability associated with increasing PCB levels. The abundance of two species, the specialist Opecoeloides furcatus and the generalist nematode Hysterothylacium fabri, contributed substantially to the observed dissimilarity between infracommunity samples along the gradient. The observed parasite responses to moderate levels of pollution were simultaneously validated by both chemical monitoring and effect biomarkers. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
AB - We examined parasite populations and communities in the Mediterranean sentinel fish species, Mullus barbatus, sampled at a small-scale PCB gradient at the shelf sediments off Catalonian coasts of the Western Mediterranean. A recurrent feature at both the population and community level was the differentiation of the samples along the increasing PCB levels simultaneously registered in the sediments. Both directly transmitted ectoparasites and endoparasites with complex life-cycles transmitted via food chains exhibited a decrease in abundance with the increase in PCB levels. Parasite numerical responses translated into significant differences in infracommunity structure with decreasing predictability associated with increasing PCB levels. The abundance of two species, the specialist Opecoeloides furcatus and the generalist nematode Hysterothylacium fabri, contributed substantially to the observed dissimilarity between infracommunity samples along the gradient. The observed parasite responses to moderate levels of pollution were simultaneously validated by both chemical monitoring and effect biomarkers. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
KW - Abundance
KW - Mullus barbatus
KW - Parasite communities
KW - Polychlorinated biphenyls
KW - Similarity
KW - Western Mediterranean
U2 - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.06.008
DO - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.06.008
M3 - Article
VL - 64
SP - 1853
EP - 1860
JO - Marine Pollution Bulletin
JF - Marine Pollution Bulletin
SN - 0025-326X
IS - 9
ER -