Cardicola forsteri (Digenea: Sanguinicolidae) from the Heart of a Northern Bluefin Tuna, Thunnas thynnus (Scombridae), in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-1-2004

Department

Coastal Sciences, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory

Abstract

We report a specimen of Cardicola forsteri Cribb, Daintith, and Munday, 2000 (Digenea: Sanguinicolidae) from the lumen of the heart of a northern bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Scombridae), that was 218 cm in total length (TL) and C caught in the northwest Atlantic Ocean 12 km South of Cape Lookout, North Carolina. The hearts of 12 similarly sized northern bluefin tuna (127-262 cm TL) front George's Bank, northwest Atlantic Ocean, were not infected. This is the first report of C. forsteri from a wild host and of a sanguinicolid from any scombrid in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Bluefin tuna is cultured in sea cages because Of its highly prized flesh, and the fact that a blood fluke infects this host is significant because some blood flukes have been identified as serious pathogens of cage-cultured fish.

Publication Title

Comparative Parasitology

Volume

71

Issue

2

First Page

245

Last Page

246

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