Changes in the parasite fauna of whiting Odontogadus merlangus L. with age and sex of host, season, and from different areas in the vicinity of the Isle of Man

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Abstract
Infestation of whiting with the helminths Derogenes varicus Müller, Hemiurus communis Odhner, Grillotia erinaceus Van Beneden (plerocercoids) and Contracaecum clavatum Rudolphi, and the copepod Lernaeocera branchialis L., increased with the age of the fish but infestation with the helminths Lecithaster gibbosus Rudolphi, Stephanostomum pristis Looss and Podocotyleatomon and the copepod Clavella uncinata Müller decreased as the fish aged. Infestation with the gill monogenean Diclidophora merlangi Kuhn remained at much the same level in fish 1–5+ years old. Derogenes, Hemiurus, Lecithaster, Cotracaecum and Stephanostomum showed seasonal fluctuations in the levels of their populations in whiting. In all cases the parasites reached a main peak in the summer and early autumn, a time when juvenile digeneans were most apparent.Whiting from Morecambe Bay were less infested with Clavella than whiting taken from other areas. Experimental evidence suggests that the lower salinity of Morecambe Bay may be responsible; however, this could not account for the lower infestation of Morecambe Bay whiting by Diclidophora which appeared to be unaffected by a lowered salinity. Whiting from the east side of the Isle of Man were more infested with Lernaeocera but less infested with Diclidophora than fish from the west side of the island. The myxosporidian Myxobolus aeglefini Auerbach was externally visible in the sclera of whiting from the east side of the island but absent from the sclera of whiting from the west side of the island. It is, therefore, suggested that whiting to the east of the Isle of Man form a separate sub‐stock from those to the west of the island.

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