HELMINTH INFESTATION OF 3 FISHES (SERRANUS-SCRIBA, MULLUS-SURMULETUS,SCORPAENA-PORCUS) FROM A COASTAL SEAGROUND IN THE GULF OF PALERMO (TYRRHENIAN SEA)

The results of a year's survey on the parasitic infestation of the gas trointestinal tract of three species of benthic fish, namely Serranus scriba, Mullus Surmuletus, and Scorpaena porcus, living in a restricte d coastal seaground in the N/W sector of the Gulf of Palermo, are repo rted and critically discussed. Fish populations were sampled monthly b y means of a trammel net, according to the local fishing usage. As man y as nine helminth species, five of them trematodes and four nematodes , were collected from the gastrointestinal tract of 625 individuals. I nfestation was most intense in M. surmuletus, with a peak in the sprin g. S. scriba was especially parasitized during the spring and summer, whereas S. porcus showed no appreciable variations over the year, but only a slight increase in the spring. A positive relation of the degre e of infestation to feeding habits, and especially to crustacean prey, was demonstrated. M. surmuletus and S. scriba are very likely final h osts of H. fabri, whereas S. porcus is merely an intermediate one.