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Marine parasitology in Australia
520
Parasitology Today, Australian Supplement, july
/ 986
Marine Parasitology in Australia K. Rohde Australian coastal waters have an exceptionally great species diversity. By 1900, in Sydney Harbour alone, 2 I 36 species had already been recorded, compared with a total of 1681 species demonstrated by much more thorough studies in the whole of the Irish Sea. In Australian warm waters and partlcularly on the Great Barrier Reef, diversity is even greater. Nearly 1000 species of fish in the Bunker-Capricorn Group of reefs at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef compare with about 150 in the whole of the North Sea. There is a corresponding diversity of parasitic forms. On the basis of a survey of ectoparasites of fish at the southern end of
the Great Barrier Reef, the total number of parasite species on fish In that area is estimated at close to 20000, and vety few have been described (Fig. 1). Twenty species of ectoparasitic Monogenea and Copepoda have been found on the bream (Acanthopagrus australis) in northern New South Wales, with six species of monogene, II copepods an3 2 isopods from the snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) in southern and eastern Australia. Many of these species are specific to the one host species. Few parasitologlsts In Australia are studying manne parasites, but some studies are under way at the James Cook
Universlty of North Queensland on endoparasites of marine fish and parasites as markers of prawn populations. Monogenean parasites are studied at Murdoch University, Western Australia, while the Department of Agrlculture, South Australia, has a programme on cestodes of elasmobranchs, and the New South Wales State Fisheries Department is studying parasites of molIuscs. Only two groups are engaged in wide-ranging and long-term studies of marine parasites; one group IS based at the Department of Parasltology, University of Queensland in Brisbane, the other at the Zoology Department, University of New England In Armldale.
Commercial
1MM
Losses
In commercial terms, marine parasltes in Australia cause significant losses in oyster culture and In fisheries’. Marine parasites are not of medical importante in Australia, mainly because raw fÏsh IS not commonly eaten, athough sushi and sashimi bars are slowly becoming more popular. Several species of marine schistosomes are potential causes of schlstosome dermatitis, and a dermatitls due to the cercaria of Austrobilharzia terngalensa IS commonly acquired in Narrabeen Lagoon near Sydney’. Most promising aspects of future studies are the role whlch parasites play in the ecology of the ocean as causes of mass mortalities, for Instance the zoogeography of marine parasites considering the varlous Australlan zoogeographlcal reglons as wel1 as affnlties with other areas in the Indo-Paclfïc and Atlantic Oceans, and studies of the evolution and phylogeny of marine parasites. With regard to the last point, recent studies In other parts of the world have descnbed new phyla (Gnathostomullda, Lorlclfera) and archalc ‘living fosslls’ in the sea, and in view of the large proportion of marine anlmals represented by parasites, thorough studies of marine parasites may recover more interesting types of animals. References l Lester. RJ G. (1978) Austraban Fishenes (September)
32-33
2 Bearup. A
Fig. 1. Heteromicrocotyloides mirabilis, a gi// monogenean of Carangoides mirabilis in the Great Barrier Reef
J (1955) Med. J. Austraiia 1,995-960
K. Rohde IS at The Unwers/ty of New England, Armfdale, NSW
Parasitology Today, Australian Supplement, july
/ 986
Marine Parasitology in Australia K. Rohde Australian coastal waters have an exceptionally great species diversity. By 1900, in Sydney Harbour alone, 2 I 36 species had already been recorded, compared with a total of 1681 species demonstrated by much more thorough studies in the whole of the Irish Sea. In Australian warm waters and partlcularly on the Great Barrier Reef, diversity is even greater. Nearly 1000 species of fish in the Bunker-Capricorn Group of reefs at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef compare with about 150 in the whole of the North Sea. There is a corresponding diversity of parasitic forms. On the basis of a survey of ectoparasites of fish at the southern end of
the Great Barrier Reef, the total number of parasite species on fish In that area is estimated at close to 20000, and vety few have been described (Fig. 1). Twenty species of ectoparasitic Monogenea and Copepoda have been found on the bream (Acanthopagrus australis) in northern New South Wales, with six species of monogene, II copepods an3 2 isopods from the snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) in southern and eastern Australia. Many of these species are specific to the one host species. Few parasitologlsts In Australia are studying manne parasites, but some studies are under way at the James Cook
Universlty of North Queensland on endoparasites of marine fish and parasites as markers of prawn populations. Monogenean parasites are studied at Murdoch University, Western Australia, while the Department of Agrlculture, South Australia, has a programme on cestodes of elasmobranchs, and the New South Wales State Fisheries Department is studying parasites of molIuscs. Only two groups are engaged in wide-ranging and long-term studies of marine parasites; one group IS based at the Department of Parasltology, University of Queensland in Brisbane, the other at the Zoology Department, University of New England In Armldale.
Commercial
1MM
Losses
In commercial terms, marine parasltes in Australia cause significant losses in oyster culture and In fisheries’. Marine parasites are not of medical importante in Australia, mainly because raw fÏsh IS not commonly eaten, athough sushi and sashimi bars are slowly becoming more popular. Several species of marine schistosomes are potential causes of schlstosome dermatitis, and a dermatitls due to the cercaria of Austrobilharzia terngalensa IS commonly acquired in Narrabeen Lagoon near Sydney’. Most promising aspects of future studies are the role whlch parasites play in the ecology of the ocean as causes of mass mortalities, for Instance the zoogeography of marine parasites considering the varlous Australlan zoogeographlcal reglons as wel1 as affnlties with other areas in the Indo-Paclfïc and Atlantic Oceans, and studies of the evolution and phylogeny of marine parasites. With regard to the last point, recent studies In other parts of the world have descnbed new phyla (Gnathostomullda, Lorlclfera) and archalc ‘living fosslls’ in the sea, and in view of the large proportion of marine anlmals represented by parasites, thorough studies of marine parasites may recover more interesting types of animals. References l Lester. RJ G. (1978) Austraban Fishenes (September)
32-33
2 Bearup. A
Fig. 1. Heteromicrocotyloides mirabilis, a gi// monogenean of Carangoides mirabilis in the Great Barrier Reef
J (1955) Med. J. Austraiia 1,995-960
K. Rohde IS at The Unwers/ty of New England, Armfdale, NSW