Parasitic fauna of Gobiidae in Mazandaran coastal zones, north of Iran 2011

Gobiidae is considered as one of the diverse families of fishes in Caspian Sea. Due to abundant species and no harvest, this family plays an important role in ecology and feed chain of fishes in Caspian Sea. Present study was performed to determine parasitic fauna of Gobiidae in southern parts of Caspian Sea (coasts of Nowshahr, Sorkhrood, Jouybar, Sari and Amirabad). Primarily, length and weight of each fish was measured. Then, fish’s various organs were examined by routine parasitology methods. From 150 fishes which were caught from six studied coastal zones, 51 (34 %) were infected. Majority of caught fishes was belonged to sand goby (Neogobius fluviatilis pallasi) and round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) was the least. Highest rate of infection was seen in N. fluviatilis pallasi while, this percentage in round goby (N. melanostomus) was low (8.57 %) and in Caspian bighead goby (Neogobius kessleri gorlap) no parasitic infection was observed. Most of infected fishes were from Jouybar coastal zone while Nowshahr coastal zone had the lowest infection rate. In present study parasites such as Dactylogyrus, Rhobdochona fortuneti and Bothrocephalus gowkogensis were diagnosed in Caspian gobies. Regarding importance of gobies in chain feed of other fishes and their indirect economic importance, need of diagnosing of gobies parasitic fauna seems to be essential.