Abstract Anglerfish Lophius litulon (Jordan) caught commercially in the East China Sea off western Japan were found to be infected with the chondracanthid copepod Acanthochondria spiriger

Hiroaki Hashimoto

Satoshi Kubo

Yoichi Sakai

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Occurrence of the parasitic copepod Acanthochondria spirigera
(Chondracanthidae) on anglerfish Lophius litulon
in the East China Sea off western Japan
Kazuya NAGASAWA1）, Satoshi KUBO2）
Yoichi SAKAI1） and Hiroaki HASHIMOTO1）
1）Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University
2）Faculty of Applied Biological Science, Hiroshima University
1-4-4 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8528, Japan
Abstract Anglerfish Lophius litulon (Jordan) caught commercially in the East China Sea off
western Japan were found to be infected with the chondracanthid copepod Acanthochondria
spirigera Shiino, 1955. Lophius litulon is a new host for this copepod. We made an observation on
the occurrence of A. spirigera on anglerfish because the copepods of the genus Acanthochondria
cause food hygiene problems at fish markets in Japan. Overall prevalence of infection with A.
spirigera was high (71% of 31 fish examined), and one or two copepods were usually found on an
infected fish. Their attachment site was the roof and floor of the buccal cavity of the fish. The
number of copepods per fish showed an increasing tread with fish size and during the fall months
(September to November).
Key words: parasitic copepod, Acanthochondria spirigera, new host, anglerfish, Lophius litulon,
East China Sea
INTRODUCTION
The chondracanthid copepod Acanthochondria spirigera was described by Shiino (1955) from
blackmouth angler Lophiomus setigerus (Vahl) (as L. setigerous) (type host) landed at Choshi and
Amatsu (as Tyôsi and Amatu, respectively) in Chiba (as Tiba) Prefecture and at Owase in Mie
Prefecture, Japan. This copepod was subsequently recorded from the same fish host in Sagami Bay
(Shiino, 1959), off the west coast of Japan (Avdeev and Kazatchenko, 1985), and in the Sea of Japan
off southern Korea (Choi et al., 1996). In Japan, the copepod was also found on goosefish
Lophioides naresi (Günther) (＝Chirolophius [as Cherolophius] moseleyi Regan) at Owase (Shiino,
1955). The sites of attachment are the roof and floor of the buccal cavity and the gills (Shiino, 1955;
Avdeev and Kazatchenko, 1985; Choi et al., 1996). Goosefishes (family Lophiidae) are highly
appreciated as food in Japan, and the copepods of Acanthochondria spp., including a species
infecting Lophiomus setigerus, cause food hygiene problems at fish markets (Tokyo Metropolitan
Wholesale Market Sanitary Inspection Station, 1990). Since the biology of A. spirigera is poorly
known, we examined the occurrence of the copepod on anglerfish Lophius litulon (Jordan) caught in
the East China Sea.
J. Grad. Sch. Biosp. Sci., 
Hiroshima Univ. (2008), 47 : 17－22
Accepted on September 12, 2008
03-03  09.1.19 5:15 PM  ページ 17
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 31 Lophius litulon were purchased at Imabari Fish Market, Ehime Prefecture, Japan,
from January to May and September to November, 2007. The fish were all commercially caught with
bottom trawls in the East China Sea. No fish was sampled from June to August 2007 because fishing
was prohibited for fisheries management. Since the catches were usually small and the fish price was
high, only 1-6 (usually 3-4) fish were available for this study per month (Table 1). The fish were
brought to the laboratory and individually examined for total length (TL, mm), body weight (g) and
the presence of Acanthochondria spirigera. The copepods found were fixed and preserved in 70%
ethanol. Voucher specimens are deposited in the crustacean (Cr) collection at the National Museum
of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan (NSMT-Cr 18775).
RESULTS
A total of 57 female copepods occurred on 22 (71%) of the 31 fish examined (Table 1). These
copepods were all identified as Acanthochondria spirigera Shiino, 1955 (Fig. 1). Their attachment
site was the roof and floor of the buccal cavity. One or two copepods were usually found on an
infected fish, but as many as 13 copepods were recorded from a fish of 715 mm TL (Fig. 2). The
number of copepods per fish showed an increasing trend with fish size. Due to the small number of
our fish samples, it was difficult to draw a conclusion about seasonal changes in infection level of A.
spirigera (Table 1). Nevertheless, mean abundance of the copepod gradually increased during the
fall months (September to November).
DISCUSSION
The morphology of female copepod specimens of the present material is identical with that of the
Kazuya NAGASAWA, Satoshi KUBO, Yoichi SAKAI and Hiroaki HASHIMOTO18
Fig. 1. Adult female of Acanthochondria spirigera from the buccal cavity of
anglerfish Lophius litulon from the East China Sea on September 19,
2007. A. dorsal view, B. ventral view. Scale bars: 10 mm.
03-03  09.1.19 5:15 PM  ページ 18
female of A. spirigera described by Shiino (1955). Lophius litulon is a new host for A. spirigera. The
hitherto known hosts are two lophiids (Lophiomus setigerus, Lophioides naresi: see the Introduction
section for the current and previous scientific names of the latter species) (Shiino, 1955, 1959;
Avdeev and Kazatchenko, 1985; Choi et al., 1996), indicating that this copepod is specific to
goosefishes of the family Lophiidae.
The distributional records of A. spirigera are confined to Japanese and Korean waters. There has
been no record of the species from off Far East Russia and China (e.g., Markevich and Titar, 1978;
Song and Kuang, 1980), but it is likely that it occurs in Chinese waters because the host fish is
distributed in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea (Yamada et al., 2007).
Avdeev and Kazatchenko (1985) collected A. spirigera from the gills and buccal cavity of
Lophiomus setigerus. There is also a record of Acanthochondria sp. (probably A. spirigera based on
Occurrence of Acanthochondria spirigera on anglerfish 19
Table 1. Monthly occurrence of Acanthochondria spirigera on anglerfish Lophius litulon from the East China Sea in
2007*
Month No. of fish examined Total length (mean, mm) Prevalence (%)** Mean abundance (range)***
January 4 383-452（422） 50.0 0.8（0-2）
February 4 395-553（473） 100 1.3（1-2）
March 5 392-523（447） 80.0 1.2（0-2）
April 6 398-513（469） 66.7 1.0（0-3）
May 3 441-840（610） 66.7 1.0（0-2）
September 5 405-673（495） 60.0 3.4（0-9）
October 1 862（862） 100 4.0（4）
November 3 415-715（522） 66.7 6.3（0-13）
Total 31 383-860（495） 71.0 2.3（0-13）
* No fish was caught from June to August due to fishing ban.
** Percentage of fish infected.
*** Mean number of copepods per fish examined.
Fig. 2. Relationship between number of Acanthochondria spirigera per fish and
total length of anglerfish Lophius litulon from the East China Sea.
03-03  09.1.19 5:15 PM  ページ 19
a picture) from the gills of L. setigerus (Tokyo Metropolitan Wholesale Market Sanitary Inspection
Station, 1990). In this study, however, all copepods were found in the buccal cavity of Lophius
litulon. A. spirigera may show a different site preference in the two fish hosts.
As for seasonal changes in infection level of A. spirigera (Table 1), there was a slight increase in
mean abundance of the copepod from September to November. Choi et al. (1996) observed a decline
from January to May in infection level of A. spirigera on Lophiomus setigerus from Korean waters.
These results imply that the copepod abundance may change seasonally. More fish samples are,
however, necessary for a quantitative study on the seasonal occurrence of A. spirigera, although it is
not easy to obtain many fish from the East China Sea due to low level of their abundance.
The known fauna of parasitic copepods of Lophius litulon in Japan consists of five species: A.
spirigera, Acanthochondria oralis Yamaguti, 1939, Anthessius lophiomi Avdeev and Kazatchenko,
1985, Prohatschekia antennalis Avdeev and Kazatchenko, 1985, and Hoi hoi Avdeev and
Kazatchenko, 1985 (Yamaguti, 1939; Shiino, 1955, 1959; Avdeev and Kazatchenko, 1985). A.
spirigera also occurs on Lophiomus setigerus and Lophioides naresi (Shiino, 1935). Further, L.
setigerus is known to harbor Acanthochondria sixteni (Wilson, 1912) although this copepod is a
parasite of flatfishes (Ho and Kim, 1995). Of these copepods, in order to eliminate possible
confusion in identification of chondracanthids from Japanese lophiids, the morphology of A. oralis
should be reexamined in some detail because the original description of this species is poorly known
based on a single female and a single male and, like A. spirigera, it occurs in the buccal cavity (as
mouth cavity) of L. setigerus, a type host of A. spirigera, from Japan (Yamaguti, 1939).
During this study, we had an opportunity to examine one Lophius litulon from the Sea of Japan off
Yamaguchi or Tottori Prefecture caught on April 18, 2007 and collected 10 specimens of A.
spirigera. This finding constitutes the first record of the copepod from this region. Voucher
specimens are deposited at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo (NSMT-Cr 18776).
REFERENCES
Avdeev, G. V., Kazatchenko, V. N., 1985. Parasitic copepods from fishes of the genus Lophiomus Gill in
the Pacific. Crustaceana, 50: 53-67.
Choi S.-D., Hong, S. Y., Jung, C.-D., 1996. A report on Acanthochondria spirigera from the gills of
Lophiomus setigerus in the southern coast of Korea. Journal of Fish Pathology, 9: 127-135. (In
Korean with English abstract).
Ho, J.-S., Kim, I.-H., 1995. Acanthochondria (Copepoda: Chondracanthidae) parasitic on fishes of Sado
Island in the Sea of Japan, with a preliminary review of the genus. Report of the Sado Marine
Biological Station, Niigata University, 25: 45-67.
Markevich, A. P., Titar, V. M., 1978. Copepod parasites of marine fishes from the Soviet Far East. Short
Communications of the Fourth International Congress of Parasitology, Warsaw, Poland, Section H:
38-39.
Shiino, S. M., 1955. Copepods parasitic on Japanese fishes. 9. Family Chondracanthidae, subfamily
Chondracanthinae. Report of Faculty of Fisheries, Prefectural University of Mie, 2: 70-111.
Shiino, S. M., 1959. Sammlung der parasitischen Copepoden in der Präfekturuniversiät von Mie. Report of
Faculty of Fisheries, Prefectural University of Mie, 3: 334-374.
Song, D. S., Kuang, P. R., 1980. Illustrations of Chinese Animals-Crustacea. Volume 4. Science Publisher,
Beijing. 90 pp. (In Chinese).
20 Kazuya NAGASAWA, Satoshi KUBO, Yoichi SAKAI and Hiroaki HASHIMOTO
03-03  09.1.19 5:15 PM  ページ 20
Occurrence of Acanthochondria spirigera on anglerfish 21
Tokyo Metropolitan Wholesale Market Sanitary Inspection Station (ed.), 1990. Handbook of the Parasites
of Aquatic Animals. Volume 2. Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo. 45 pp. (In Japanese).
Yamada, U., Tokimura, M., Horikawa, H., Nakabo, T., 2007. Fishes and Fisheries of the East China and
Yellow Seas. Tokai University Press, Hadano. 1262 pp. (In Japanese).
Yamaguti, S., 1939. Parasitic copepods from fishes of Japan. Part 6. Lernaeopoida I. Volumen Jubilare pro
Professore Sadao Yoshida, 2: 529-578, 25 pls.
03-03  09.1.19 5:15 PM  ページ 21
Kazuya NAGASAWA, Satoshi KUBO, Yoichi SAKAI and Hiroaki HASHIMOTO22
東シナ海産キアンコウにおけるトゲナシツブムシ
Acanthochondria spirigeraの寄生状況
長澤和也1）・久保諭志2）・坂井陽一1）・橋本博明1）
1）広島大学大学院生物圏科学研究科, 〒739-8528 東広島市鏡山1-4-4
2）広島大学生物生産学部, 〒739-8528 東広島市鏡山1-4-4
要　旨 東シナ海で漁獲されたキアンコウLophius litulonの口腔壁にカイアシ類ツブムシ科のトゲ
ナシツブムシAcanthochondria spirigeraの寄生を認めた。キアンコウは本寄生虫の新宿主である。ト
ゲナシツブムシを含むAcanthochondria属のカイアシ類は魚市場等で食品衛生的な問題を起こすこと
があるため，その寄生状況を観察した。全検査魚における寄生率は72％で，キアンコウ1尾当たり
普通1～2個体が寄生していた。寄生部位は口腔壁で，鰓への寄生は見られなかった。1尾当たり寄
生数は魚体長が増すほど，また季節的には秋（9～11月）に多くなる傾向がみられた。
キーワード：寄生性カイアシ類，トゲナシツブムシ，Acanthochondria spirigera，新宿主，キアンコ
ウ，東シナ海
03-03  09.1.19 5:15 PM  ページ 22


Kazuya NAGASAWA

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Kazuya NAGASAWA

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