Seasonal population dynamics of the monogeneans Pseudorhabdosynochus coioidesis and P. serrani on wild versus cultured groupers in Daya Bay, South China Sea

In this paper, seasonal samples of wild versus cultured groupers, Epinephelus spp., from Daya Bay, South China Sea were examined to survey the seasonality of two important species, Pseudorhabdosynochus coioidesis and P. serrani (Monogenea: Diplectanidae), and to analyze the interspecific relationships between these two parasites. Between April 2008 and January 2009, P. coioidesis and P. serrani were found to be parasitic only on E. coioides Hamilton during summer and winter in the natural waters of Daya Bay, exhibiting a high degree of host specificity, whereas they co-occurred and persisted on several species of hosts, such as E. coioides, E. bruneus Block and E. awoara Temminck & Schlegel, in an experimental polyculture pond during several seasons. E. coioides is the main host for both of these two monogenean species. The overall prevalences and mean intensities of these two parasites on polycultured Epinephelus spp. showed the same pattern of seasonal fluctuations, with the maximum values during autumn, except for the overall prevalence of P. serrani, which reached its maximum values during summer and winter and the minimum values during spring and autumn. Prevalence and mean intensity were found to be related to host size. In the wild, medium-sized fishes harboured higher infections, whereas under cultured conditions the small-sized and large-sized fishes were more heavily infected. Simultaneous infections of P. coioidesis and P. serrani were common, and there was a significant positive interspecific correlation between these two parasites.