A SURVEY OF THE PARASITES OF GREENLAND HALIBUT (REINHARDTIUS-HIPPOGLOSSOIDES) CAUGHT OFF ATLANTIC CANADA, WITH NOTES ON THEIR ZOOGEOGRAPHY IN THIS FISH

A survey of the parasites of Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglos soides) caught in Canadian Atlantic waters extending from Cumberland S ound, Northwest Territories, to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Saguenay Fjord was conducted during the period January 1990 to March 1991. From examination of 350 fish a total of 46 parasite taxa were identified ( 4 Myxosporea, 1 Monogenea, 19 Digenea, 6 Cestoda, 8 Nematoda, 5 Acanth ocephala, 2 Crustacea, and 1 Hirudinoidea). Included among these are 1 5 taxa previously unreported from this fish (Genolinea laticauda Mante r, 1925; Gonocerca phycidis Manter, 1925; Neophasis sp.; Podocotyle re flexa (Creplin, 1825); Prosorhynchus squamatus Odhner, 1905; Steringop horus sp.; Eubothrium parvum Nybelin, 1922; Proteocephalus sp.; Ascaro phis arctica Polyansky, 1952; Ascarophis filiformis Polyansky, 1952; S pirurida gen. sp. larva; Corynosoma validum Van Cleave, 1953; Corynoso ma wegeneri Heinze, 1934; Gnathia elongata (Kroyer, 1849); and Notosto mum laeve Levinsen, 1882). New Canadian records include only Steringop horus sp. and N. laeve. The parasite fauna of Greenland halibut is cha racterized by a large number of ubiquitous species, including many lar val forms that show little host specificity, and a smaller number of s pecies typical of pleuronectiform fishes, two of which (Myxoproteus re inhardti (Wierzbicka, 1986) and Hatschekia reinhardtii Wierzbicka, 198 9) are known only from this fish. A complete listing of all parasites reported from Greenland halibut is included as an appendix.