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DAO
Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

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DAO 46:181-188 (2001)  -  doi:10.3354/dao046181

Cymothoid isopod parasites in aquaculture: a review and case study of a Turkish sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and sea bream (Sparus auratus) farm

Tammy Horton, Beth Okamura*

The University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 228, Reading RG6 6AJ, United Kingdom
*Corresponding author. E-mail:

ABSTRACT: This paper reviews the occurrence of cymothoid isopod parasitism in aquaculture, reports the first case of infection by a cymothoid isopod (Ceratothoa oestroides) in Turkish aquaculture, and analyses its effects on sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax. Analyses revealed that C. oestroides negatively affects the weights and lengths of sea bass hosts. These effects have been previously underestimated because host age has not been accounted for. The analysis of condition factors as a means of assessing parasite effects is therefore likely to be misleading. Infection of fish of all ages by all cymothoid stages indicates that sea bass are not intermediate hosts but that C. oestroides has effected a complete host shift.


KEY WORDS: Ceratothoa · Parasitism · Aquaculture · Dicentrarchus labrax · Cymothoidae


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