Metazoan parasites of the stomach of Dissostichus eleginoides Smitt 1898 (Pisces: Notothenidae) from southern Chile: A tool for stock discrimination?

The taxonomic composition of the metazoan parasites found in the stomach of 629 specimens of the “Patagonian toothfish” Dissostichus eleginoides Smitt, 1898, from two localities in southern Chile (Lebu 36°00′S; Quellón 48°49′S), is recorded. More than 58,000 parasite specimens belonging to 9 taxa were registered. Adult worms were represented by the hemiurids Gonocerca phycidis Manter 1925, Lecithochirium genypteri Luhe 1905, Brachyphallus crenatus (Rudolphi 1802), and Derogenes varicus (Muller 1784) and the nematode Hysterothylacium sp. Ward & Magath 1917. Larval forms of anisakid nematodes, an acanthocephalan (Corynosoma sp.), a trypanorhynch cestode (Hepatoxylon trichiuri (Holten 1802)) and an unidentified pseudophyllidean cestode were also obtained. Parasitological evidence, based on univariate and multivariate analysis, does not support either the existence of discrete stocks, migratory movements between areas or seasonality in pattern of infection.