Authors

Discussion

Haemobaphes cyclopterina (Copepoda: Lernaeoceridae) has rarely been recorded from the North Sea area, with only 5 locations recorded over the last century, 3 of these being in Norway and Denmark.  Of the 2 records further south, one was from butterfish and the other from dab.  Recent sampling of long-rough dab (Hippoglossoides platessoides; total N = 76) from 3 localities off eastern Scotland produced 8 individual H. cyclopterina over a period of 4 years, representing only the third to sixth records from this definitive host.  Prevalence was between 4 and 20 %, much higher than the next most recent record in the area (1990-92) from dab (Limanda limanda) of 5 individual parasites in more than 18000 hosts.  This indicates that long-rough dab are a previously overlooked definitive host for this parasite in the central North Sea, which furthermore appears to be the most important host for H. cyclopterina  in this area.