The determanition of metazoan parasite fauna of the bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766) from the Turkish coast of the black sea

In the present study, economically important bluefish, (Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766) captured in Sinop coasts of the Black Sea were investigated between October 2023-January 2024 for metazoan parasites. A total of 91 specimens the bluefish were examined in this research. A total of 6 metazoan parasite species belonging to Monogenea (1), Digenea (2), Nematoda (2) and Isopoda (1) taxonomic groups were identified. Parasite species recovered were Microcotyle pomatomi Goto, 1899, Tergestia laticollis (Rudolphi, 1819) Stossich, 1899, Prodistomum polonii (Molin, 1859) Bray & Gibson, 1990, Hysterothylacium aduncum Rudolphi, 1802, Philometra saltatrix Ramachandran, 1973 ve Gnathia sp. Overall infection prevalence (%) and mean intensity values were 86,81% and 8,37 ± 0,81 parasites per infected fish, respectively. Philometra saltatrix was found to be the dominant species with infection prevalence of 72,53% and mean intensity value of 3,60 ± 0,024 parasites per fish examined. Gnathia sp., identified on a genus basis, was reported for the first time in bluefish with this study and has the potential to be a new species for our country's parasite fauna. In addition, infection prevalence and mean intensity values for each parasite species identified in the study in relation to fish size and sex were also determined and discussed. This study is the first detailed report on the metazoan parasite fauna of bluefish caught from the Black Sea coast of Türkiye.