Endohelminths of white croaker (Genyonemus lineatus) from Los Angeles Harbor, southern California, USA

We examined 243 white croakers Genyonemus lineatus (Ayres, 1855) from Los A ngeles Harbor for endohelminths in 1997 and 1998. Twelve helminth tars were found: 1 Acanthocephala, 2 Cestoidea, 5 Digenea, and 4 Nematoda. Cestodes (tetraphyllidean plerocercoids and Lacistorhynchus dollfusi Beveridge and S akanari, 1987) dominated the helminth assemblage of croakers. A nematode, A nisakis sp., and an acanthocephalan, Corynosoma sp., were also common in th is host Observed differences in the seasonal prevalence of Anisakis sp., Co rynosoma sp., L. dollfusi, and tetraphyllideans may reflect seasonal fluctu ations in invertebrate host availability to croaker. Age and gender differe nces in parasite intensity occurred for the dominant cestodes, i.e., tetrap hyllideans. Female croakers and croakers that were 2 yr old were mere likel y to be infected with the plerocercoids of tetraphyllidean cestodes.