Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Parasite communities associated with the Cape gurnard (Chelidonichthys capensis) and the lesser gurnard (C. queketti) from South Africa

The Cape gurnard (Chelidonichthys capensis) and the lesser gurnard (Chelidonichthys queketti) are two members of the Triglidae family found off Southern Africa. Chelidonichthys capensis is distributed from depths of 10 m to 390 m in subtropical waters between Namibia and Mozambique, while C. quekett...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mackintosh, Amy Leigh
Other Authors: Reed, Cecile C
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Biological Sciences 2020
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613335929749504
access_status_str Open Access
author Mackintosh, Amy Leigh
author2 Reed, Cecile C
author_browse Mackintosh, Amy Leigh
Reed, Cecile C
author_facet Reed, Cecile C
Mackintosh, Amy Leigh
author_sort Mackintosh, Amy Leigh
collection Thesis
description The Cape gurnard (Chelidonichthys capensis) and the lesser gurnard (Chelidonichthys queketti) are two members of the Triglidae family found off Southern Africa. Chelidonichthys capensis is distributed from depths of 10 m to 390 m in subtropical waters between Namibia and Mozambique, while C. queketti is distributed from 0 m to 150 m in subtropical waters from Namibia to southern Mozambique. Little is known about the biology, ecology and life cycles of these two species. Additionally, the parasite community of these two gurnards has not yet been surveyed, although there are records of a number of copepods infecting both species that have been documented for taxonomic purposes. This study aims to examine the macroparasite assemblages of both gurnard species from the west and south coasts of South Africa and determine whether the parasite communities show significant intra-specific, special differences or inter-specific differences. A total of 70 Chelidonichthys capensis and 87 C. queketti were examined, with a total of 13 parasitic taxa found infecting C. capensis, ten of which are new host records, while 15 parasitic taxa were found infecting C. queketti, 13 of which are new host records and one of which is a new geographic record. The nematode Anisakis pegreffii was the most prevalent parasite infecting C. capensis (75.7%), and an unidentified cyst was the most prevalent parasite infecting C. queketti (69%). Parasites recorded to infect both gurnard species include the cestode Tentacularia coryphaenae, the acanthocephalan Corynosoma australe, and the copepods Lernentoma asellina and Medesicaste penetrans. A Caligus species was only recorded to infect C. capensis and the unidentified cyst was only recorded infecting C. queketti. This study was also able to identify two biological tag species for potential use in population structure studies of both gurnards, namely A. pegreffii and T. coryphaenae, based on significant regional differences in prevalence and infection intensity levels. In comparison to other Chelidonichthys species, C. capensis has the second highest and C. queketti has the third highest number of recorded parasite taxa, with C. lucerna having the highest number (22 species) of parasites recorded. The new host records for C. capensis and C. queketti, and the new geographic record, contribute to our knowledge of these demersal fish species and of marine biodiversity in South Africa.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/31137
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:34:28.941Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
publishDateSort 2020
publisher Department of Biological Sciences
publisherStr Department of Biological Sciences
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/31137 Parasite communities associated with the Cape gurnard (Chelidonichthys capensis) and the lesser gurnard (C. queketti) from South Africa Mackintosh, Amy Leigh Reed, Cecile C van der Lingen, Carl D Biological Sciences The Cape gurnard (Chelidonichthys capensis) and the lesser gurnard (Chelidonichthys queketti) are two members of the Triglidae family found off Southern Africa. Chelidonichthys capensis is distributed from depths of 10 m to 390 m in subtropical waters between Namibia and Mozambique, while C. queketti is distributed from 0 m to 150 m in subtropical waters from Namibia to southern Mozambique. Little is known about the biology, ecology and life cycles of these two species. Additionally, the parasite community of these two gurnards has not yet been surveyed, although there are records of a number of copepods infecting both species that have been documented for taxonomic purposes. This study aims to examine the macroparasite assemblages of both gurnard species from the west and south coasts of South Africa and determine whether the parasite communities show significant intra-specific, special differences or inter-specific differences. A total of 70 Chelidonichthys capensis and 87 C. queketti were examined, with a total of 13 parasitic taxa found infecting C. capensis, ten of which are new host records, while 15 parasitic taxa were found infecting C. queketti, 13 of which are new host records and one of which is a new geographic record. The nematode Anisakis pegreffii was the most prevalent parasite infecting C. capensis (75.7%), and an unidentified cyst was the most prevalent parasite infecting C. queketti (69%). Parasites recorded to infect both gurnard species include the cestode Tentacularia coryphaenae, the acanthocephalan Corynosoma australe, and the copepods Lernentoma asellina and Medesicaste penetrans. A Caligus species was only recorded to infect C. capensis and the unidentified cyst was only recorded infecting C. queketti. This study was also able to identify two biological tag species for potential use in population structure studies of both gurnards, namely A. pegreffii and T. coryphaenae, based on significant regional differences in prevalence and infection intensity levels. In comparison to other Chelidonichthys species, C. capensis has the second highest and C. queketti has the third highest number of recorded parasite taxa, with C. lucerna having the highest number (22 species) of parasites recorded. The new host records for C. capensis and C. queketti, and the new geographic record, contribute to our knowledge of these demersal fish species and of marine biodiversity in South Africa. 2020-02-17T12:40:37Z 2020-02-17T12:40:37Z 2019 2020-02-17T10:06:20Z Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31137 eng application/pdf Department of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science
spellingShingle Biological Sciences
Mackintosh, Amy Leigh
Parasite communities associated with the Cape gurnard (Chelidonichthys capensis) and the lesser gurnard (C. queketti) from South Africa
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Parasite communities associated with the Cape gurnard (Chelidonichthys capensis) and the lesser gurnard (C. queketti) from South Africa
title_full Parasite communities associated with the Cape gurnard (Chelidonichthys capensis) and the lesser gurnard (C. queketti) from South Africa
title_fullStr Parasite communities associated with the Cape gurnard (Chelidonichthys capensis) and the lesser gurnard (C. queketti) from South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Parasite communities associated with the Cape gurnard (Chelidonichthys capensis) and the lesser gurnard (C. queketti) from South Africa
title_short Parasite communities associated with the Cape gurnard (Chelidonichthys capensis) and the lesser gurnard (C. queketti) from South Africa
title_sort parasite communities associated with the cape gurnard chelidonichthys capensis and the lesser gurnard c queketti from south africa
topic Biological Sciences
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31137
work_keys_str_mv AT mackintoshamyleigh parasitecommunitiesassociatedwiththecapegurnardchelidonichthyscapensisandthelessergurnardcquekettifromsouthafrica