Parasites of Adriatic cage reared fish

Abstract

          With the rapid development of aquaculture in the Mediterranean, a number of parasitic diseases have emerged in cage-reared fish. In confined rearing conditions, the diseases can induce mortality and economic losses related to suppressed growth. With diversification of aquaculture products and the introduction of new fish species into the rearing system, new parasitic pathogens have found their way into new environments, resulting in adaptation of the parasite, new colonization on resident aquaculture species (primarily sea bass and sea bream), or increased parasite prevalence and abundance on the newly cultivated fish species. The parasitofauna of reared fish is impoverished in terms of species richness and has greater population values than in the wild fish population. While the parasitofauna of fish reared in the Mediterranean is discussed in numerous publications, only occasional findings specifically refer to the Adriatic Sea. Wild fish populations in the Adriatic Sea have been sampled for parasite isolation and identification but an overview of reared fish parasitofauna has never been reported. This was the main goal of this study.