title: Myxozoans as biological tags for stock identification of the Argentine hake, Merluccius hubbsi (Gadiformes: Merlucciidae).
abstract: Myxozoans have been successfully used as tags for fish stock identification around the world. However, few studies using myxozoan tags have been carried out in the Southern Atlantic, a region with complex oceanography that constitutes a potentially suitable scenario for testing the utility of myxozoans as indicators. Its usefulness was tested using six samples of Merluccius hubbsi in two different regions of the Argentine Sea. Generalized linear models were performed to assess the effects of fish size and sex, and year and region of capture and selected using the Information Theoretic approach. Three myxozoan species were recorded: Kudoa rosenbuschi, Myxoproteus meridionalis and Fabespora sp. Results of modelling species individually showed differential capabilities for detecting geographical population structure at different spatial scales, with K. rosenbuschi and Fabespora sp. allowing the discrimination of northern and southern stocks, but Fabespora sp. also as a promissory indicator of intrapopulation sub-structure due to different migratory routes during non-reproductive periods. This work confirms that myxozoans offer a set of suitable markers at different spatial scales, which can be selected individually or in any combination, depending on the geographical extent of the study, constituting tools adaptable to the objectives of further research on fish population structure.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Parasitología,Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC),Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales,Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-CONICET,Funes 3350,(7600) Mar del Plata,Argentina.
authors.forename: D M P
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Cantatore
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Parasitología,Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC),Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales,Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-CONICET,Funes 3350,(7600) Mar del Plata,Argentina.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Irigoitia
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology,Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences,Branišovská 31,(37005) Cěské Budějovice,Czech Republic.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Holzer
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Parasitología,Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC),Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales,Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-CONICET,Funes 3350,(7600) Mar del Plata,Argentina.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Timi
mesh_terms: D000823:Animal Identification Systems / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D005398:Fisheries; D048388:Gadiformes / Q000469:parasitology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D055764:Myxozoa / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D010273:Parasitic Diseases, Animal / Q000469:parasitology*; D013045:Species Specificity
keywords:  Fabespora sp.; Biological markers; Kudoa rosenbuschi; Myxoproteus meridionalis; South West Atlantic; common hake; stock discrimination