The parasite community infecting flounders, Platichthys flesus, in the tidal Thames

The composition of the parasite fauna of the flounder, Platichthys flesus , retrieved from two locations in the tidal Thames is described in detail for the first time. The combined parasite species list of the flounders from Lots Road in the upper tideway and West Thurrock in the middle tideway consisted of one protozoan ( Glugea stephani ), one monogenean ( Gyrodactylus sp.), four larval digeneans ( Cryptocotyle concava , Timoniella imbutiforme , T. praeterita , and Labratrema minimus ), five adult digeneans ( Derogenes varicus , Lecithaster gibbosus , Podocotyle sp., Plagioporus varius , and Zoogonoides viviparus ), one larval cestode (unidentified tetraphyllidean), one or possibly more larval nematodes (unidentified) plus five adult nematodes ( Capillaria sp., Cucullanus heterochrous , C. minutus , Contracaecum sp. and Goezia sp.), two acanthocephalans ( Pomphorhynchus laevis and Acanthocephalus anguillae ), three copepods ( Lepeophtheirus pectoralis , Acanthochondria sp. and Lernaeocera branchialis ), and one mollusc (unidentified glochidia). The overall parasite community of flounders from Lots Road and West Thurrock were compared in terms of species richness and diversity. The parasite community in flounders from the former location in the upper tideway was found to be less diverse than that of its counterpart at West Thurrock in the middle estuary. The component community of Lots Road flounders was dominated by the acanthocephalan Pomphorhynchus laevis .