Selecting parasites for use in biological tagging of the Atlantic swordfish ( Xiphias gladius)

Sampling 125 swordfish in the Gulf of Guinea has provided a parasitofauna profile. By comparing the results with those obtained by other authors in other Atlantic areas, the parasites involved can be assessed for their potential use in tagging. The presence of cestode plerocercoids, Tentacularia coryphaenae, only in the South Atlantic and the nematode Anisakis simplex as well as the copepod, Penella filosa, in the North Atlantic, means that they are particularly suitable to be used as biological tags.