USE OF PARASITES FOR SEPARATING STOCKS OF GREENLAND HALIBUT (REINHARDTIUS HIPPOGLOSSOIDES) IN THE CANADIAN NORTHWEST ATLANTIC

The usefulness of parasites as biological tags for stocks of Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) occurring off the Atlantic coa st of Canada and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence was investigated. Nonpara metric discriminant function analyses of eight collections comprising a total of 231 large fish >39 cm) using counts for selected parasite t axa (Corynosoma strumosum juvenile, Otodistomum sp. metacercaria, Cont racaecinea spp. larva, Anisakis simplex larva, and Pseudoterranova dec ipiens larva) gave accurate results (almost 100% correct classificatio n) for the separation of fish from the Gulf of St, Lawrence from those collected from adjacent areas of the Saguenay Fjord and the Atlantic Ocean off Labrador. Little, if any, mixing of subadult or adult fish a pparently occurs among these areas.