Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T04:24:35.321Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influence of environmental changes in the north-western Atlantic Ocean on a parasite, Echinorhynchus gadi (Acanthocephala) of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) occurring off coastal Labrador, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2008

R.A. Khan
R.A. Khan*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, A1B 3X9
*
*Fax: +1 (709) 737-4000 E-mail: rakhan@mun.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the influence of environmental change on an endoparasite, Echinorhynchus gadi (Acanthocephala) of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) over a 30-year period off the coast of Labrador in the north-western Atlantic, North Atlantic Fisheries Organization subareas 2J–3K. Cod, once an abundant fish species that had been commercially exploited for many decades, declined precipitously during the mid-1980s onwards. This decline was attributed to climatic changes that affected the entire food chain from zooplankton to fish, sea birds and marine mammals. A monitoring programme was introduced, sampling cod by otter trawling using research vessels. The fish, after capture, were frozen at − 20°C, subsequently thawed and the digestive tract removed and examined for the parasite in 2006. Data from samples taken in 1976, 1980–81, 1986, 1990, 2000 and 2003 were compared statistically with those collected in 2006. The results indicate a decline in the prevalence and mean abundance of E. gadi in 1986 with a minimum in 2000 but increasing gradually in 2003 and 2006. These changes were coincident initially with a decline of oceanic temperature and the entire food web, including capelin (Mallotus villosus), a preferred prey of cod and primary source of E. gadi. The increase in prevalence and mean abundance of the parasite in 2006 were associated with an increase of oceanic temperature and the return of small schools of capelin to offshore areas. Cod older than 4 years harboured a greater abundance of E. gadi than younger fish, while no difference was observed between the sexes. The results suggest that the abundance of E. gadi can be useful as a bioindicator of environmental changes in the north-western Atlantic.

Type
Research Papers
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 82 , Issue 3 , September 2008 , pp. 203 - 209
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Appy, R.G. & Burt, M.D.B. (1982) Metazoan parasites of cod, Gadus morhua L. in Canadian Atlantic waters. Canadian Journal of Zoology 60, 1573–1579.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchmann, K. (1988) Variations of the infection level of Echinorhynchus gadi (Acanthocephala) in Baltic cod (Gadus morhua). Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathology 11, 11–14.Google Scholar
Buchmann, K. (1995) Ecological implications of Echinorhynchus gadi parasitism of Baltic cod (Gadus morhua). Journal of Fish Biology 46, 539–540.Google Scholar
Bush, A.O., Lafferty, K.D., Lotz, J.M. & Shostak, A.W. (1997) Parasitology meets ecology on its own terms: Margolis et al., revisited. Journal of Parasitology 83, 575–581.Google Scholar
Carscadden, J.E., Frank, K.T. & Leggett, W.C. (2001) Ecosystem changes and the effects on capelin (Mallotus villosus), a major forage species. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 58, 73–85.Google Scholar
Carscadden, J.E., Montevecchi, W.A., Davoren, G.K. & Nakashima, B.S. (2002) Trophic relationships among capelin (Mallotus villosus) and seabirds in changing ecosystem. ICES Journal of Marine Science 59, 1027–1033.Google Scholar
Colbourne, E., Craig, J., Fitzpatrick, C., Senciall, D., Stead, P. & Bailey, W. (2006) An assessment of the physical oceanographic environment on the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelf during 2005. Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, Research Document, 2006/030. Ottawa, Canada.Google Scholar
Davoren, G.K. & Montevecchi, W.A. (2003) Signals from seabirds indicate changing fish stocks. Marine Ecology Progress Series 258, 253–261.Google Scholar
Dawe, E.G., Taylor, D.M., Stansbury, D., Drew, H.J., Pardy, A., Hynick, P.G., O'Keefe, P.G., Beck, P.C., Mullowney, D. & Skanes, K. (2005) An assessment of Newfoundland and Labrador snow crab in 2004. Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, Research document 2005/013. 27 p. Ottawa, Canada.Google Scholar
Dempson, J.B., Shears, M. & Bloom, M. (2002) Spatial and temporal variability in the diet of anadromous Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus, in northern Labrador. Environmental Biology of Fishes 64, 49–62.Google Scholar
Drinkwater, K.F. (2004) Atmospheric and sea-ice conditions in the Northwest Atlantic during the decade, 1991–2000. Journal of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Science 34, 1–11.Google Scholar
Drinkwater, K.F. (2005) The response of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) to future climatic change. ICES Journal of Marine Science 62, 1327–1337.Google Scholar
Fleming, A.M. (1960) Age, growth and sexual maturity of cod (Gadus morhua L.) in the Newfoundland area. Journal of Fisheries Research Board of Canada 17, 775–809.Google Scholar
Frank, K.T., Petrie, B., Choi, J.S. & Leggett, W.C. (2005) Trophic cascades in a formerly cod-dominated ecosystem. Science 308, 1621–1623.Google Scholar
George-Nascimento, M. (2000) Geographic variations in the jack mackerel Trachurus symmetricus murphyi population in the southeastern Pacific Ocean as evidenced from the associated parasite communities. Journal of Parasitology 86, 929–932.Google Scholar
George-Nascimento, M. (2007) Parasites of the jack mackerel and el Niño events in Chile. Parassitologia 49 (Suppl. 2), 273.Google Scholar
Gomes, M.C., Haedrich, R.L. & Villagarcia, G. (1995) Spatial and temporal changes in the groundfish assemblages on the north–east Newfoundland Shelf, north–west Atlantic, 1978–1991. Fisheries Oceanography 4, 85–101.Google Scholar
Greene, C.H. & Pershing, A.J. (2007) Climate drives sea change. Science 315, 1084–1085.Google Scholar
Hemmingsen, W. & MacKenzie, K. (2001) The parasite fauna of the Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua L. Advances in Marine Biology 40, 1–80.Google Scholar
Hemmingsen, W., Lile, N. & Halvorsen, O. (1995) Search for seasonality in occurrence of parasites of cod, Gadus morhua L. in a fjord at 70°N. Polar Biology 15, 517–522.Google Scholar
Hoejgaard, D.P. (1999) Food and parasitic nematodes of saithe, Pollachius virens (L.) from the Faroe Islands. Sarsia 84, 473–478.Google Scholar
Karasev, A.B., Mitenev, V.K. & Shulman, B.S. (1998) Ecological peculiarities of the parasite fauna of cod and pollock in the vicinity of the Kislaya Inlet tidal power plant, Western Murman (Barents Sea). Sarsia 80, 307–312.Google Scholar
Khan, R.A. (2007) Effect of environmental change on parasites of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) as bioindicators of populations in the northwestern Atlantic. Journal of Helminthology 81, 129–135.Google Scholar
Khan, R.A. & Chandra, C.V. (2006) Influence of climatic changes on the parasites of Atlantic cod Gadus morhua off coastal Labrador, Canada. Journal of Helminthology 80, 193–197.Google Scholar
Khan, R.A. & Tuck, C. (1995) Parasites as biological indicators of stocks of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) off Newfoundland, Canada. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 52, 195–201.Google Scholar
Lee, E.M. (1994) Parasitic fauna, diet, and length–weight relationships of cod stocks off coastal Labrador within NAFO divisions 2H and 2J. Master of Science thesis, Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.Google Scholar
Lee, E.M. & Khan, R.A. (2000) Length–weight–age relationships, food, and parasites of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) off coastal Labrador within NAFO Division 2H and 2J–3K. Fisheries Research 45, 65–72.Google Scholar
Lehodey, P., Alheit, J., Barange, M., Baumgartner, T., Beaugrand, G., Drinkwater, K., Fromentin, J.M., Hare, S.R., Ottersen, G., Perry, R.I., Roy, C., van der Lingen, C.D. & Werner, F. (2006) Climate variability, fish, and fisheries. Journal of Climate 19, 5009–5030.Google Scholar
Lilly, G.R., Almeida, M.A. & Lear, W.H. (1984) Food of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) from southern Labrador and eastern Newfoundland (div. 2J, 3K, and 3L) in winter. North Atlantic Fisheries Organization Science Council Report Document 84/VI/88, Series No. N878.Google Scholar
Lilly, G.R., Parsons, D.G. & Kulka, D.W. (2000) Was the increase in shrimp biomass on the northeast Newfoundland shelf a consequence of a release in predation pressure from cod? Journal of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Science 27, 45–61.Google Scholar
Malmberg, S.-A. & Blindheim, J. (1994) Climate, cod, and capelin in northern waters. ICES Journal Marine Science Symposium 198, 297–310.Google Scholar
Marcogliese, D.J. (1994) Aeginina longicornis (Amphipoda: Caprellidea), new intermediate host for Echinorhyndrus gadi (Acanthocephala: Echinorhynchidae). Journal of Parasitology 80, 1043–1045.Google Scholar
Orr, D. (2006) Assessment of divisions 0B-3K northern shrimp. Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, Science Advisory Report. 2006/2007. Ottawa, Canada.Google Scholar
Polyanskii, Yu.I. (1955) Data on fish parasitology of the northern seas of the USSR. Trudy Zoologischeskogo Instituta Akademiya Nauk SSSR 195–170 (in Russian).Google Scholar
Poulin, R. & Mouritsen, K.N. (2006) Climatic change, parasitism and the structure of intertidal ecosytems. Journal of Helminthology 80, 183–191.Google Scholar
Rideout, R.M. & Rose, G.A. (2006) Suppression of reproduction in Atlantic cod Gadus morhua. Marine Ecology Progress Series 320, 267–277.Google Scholar
Rose, G.A. (2005) Capelin (Mallotus villosus) distribution and climate: a sea ‘canary’ for marine ecosystem change. ICES Journal of Marine Science 62, 1524–1530.Google Scholar
Rose, G.A. & O'Driscoll, R.L. (2002) Capelin are good for cod: can the northern stock rebuild without them? ICES International Commission for Exploration of the Sea Journal of Marine Science 59, 1018–1026.Google Scholar
Schiermeier, Q. (2007) Polar research: the new face of the Arctic. Nature 446, 133–135.Google Scholar
Scott, J.E. (1985) Occurrence of alimentary tract helminth parasites of pollock (Pollachius virens L.) on the Scotian Shelf. Canadian Journal of Zoology 63, 1695–1698.Google Scholar
Templeman, W. (1974) Migrations and intermingling of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) stocks of the Newfoundland area. Journal of Fisheries Research Board of Canada 31, 1073–1092.Google Scholar
Tittensor, D.P., de Young, B. & Tang, C.L. (2003) Modelling the distribution, sustainability and diapause emergence timing of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus in the Labrador Sea. Fisheries Oceanography 12, 299–316.Google Scholar
Valtonen, E. & Crompton, D.W.T. (1990) Acanthocephala in fish from the Bothnian Bay, Finland. Journal of Zoology, London 220, 619–639.Google Scholar
Valtonen, E.T., van Maren, M.J. & Timola, O. (1983) A note on the intermediate hosts of Echinorhynchus gadi Zoega, Muller (Acanthocephala) in the Baltic Sea. Aquilo Series (Zoology) 22, 93–97.Google Scholar