title: Parasite communities in the red mullet, Mullus barbatus L., respond to small-scale variation in the levels of polychlorinated biphenyls in the Western Mediterranean.
abstract: 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.
authors: Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Marta
authors: M
authors: Carreras-Aubets
authors: Francisco Esteban
authors: FE
authors: Montero
authors: Aneta
authors: A
authors: Kostadinova
authors: Maite
authors: M
authors: Carrassón
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006376:Helminths / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D010271:Parasites / Q000502:physiology; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D012621:Seasons; D023701:Smegmamorpha / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls