First data on the parasite fauna of daubed shanny Leptoclinus maculatus (Fries 1838) (Actinopterygii, Perciformes: Stichaeidae) in Svalbard waters

The daubed shanny, Leptoclinus maculatus (Fries 1838), is an arctic-boreal fish species and widely distributed in Svalbard waters. The ecological role of L. maculatus is determined by its complex life cycle—adults are bottom-dwelling while the young are pelagic—which indicates its place in the Arctic trophic food webs, both pelagic and benthic. As an intermediate link between lipid-rich copepods on which the young of L. maculatus feed, while juvenile L. maculatus are the prrey of Arctic birds and mammals, the species can be considered as an important reservoir and host for Arctic marine parasites. In the present study, we examined fish for parasites by total necropsy. This paper reports, for the first time, data on the parasite fauna of L. maculatus in the waters around Svalbard. L. maculatus is considered an ecologically significant species in this area, and an important link in the transfer of matter and energy from primary producers to higher-order consumers in the Arctic food chains. Peritrichianciliates Scyphidia sp., adult trematodes Helicometrainsolita Polyansky 1955, encysted metacercariae Neophasis sp., juvenile anisakid nematodes, and dyhyllobothriid larvae were found in L. maculatus . The most frequent findings were Neophasis sp. (64%). The data obtained in this study indicate the involvement of L. maculatus in certain transfers of parasites in Arctic waters, between hosts at the same stage of development and between hosts at different stages of development.