Helminth infestation of three fishes (Serranus scriba, Mullus surmuletus, Scorpaena porcus) from a coastal seaground in the Gulf of Palermo (Tyrrhenian Sea)

The results of a year's survey on the parasitic infestation of the gastrointestinal tract of three species of benthic fish, namely Serranus scriba, Mullus surmuletus, and Scorpaena porcus, living in a restricted coastal seaground in the N/W sector of the Gulf of Palermo, are reported and critically discussed. Fish populations were sampled monthly by means of a trammel net, according to the local fishing usage. As many as nine helminth species, five of them trematodes and four nematodes, were collected from the gastrointestinal tract of 625 individuals. Infestation was most intense in M. surmuletus, with a peak in the spring. S. scriba was especially parasitized during the spring and summer, whereas S. porcus showed no appreciable variations over the year, but only a slight increase in the spring. A positive relation of the degree of infestation to feeding habits, and especially to crustacean prey, was demonstrated. M. surmuletus and S. scriba are very likely final hosts of H. fabri, whereas S. porcus is merely an intermediate one.