Gravid females of the nematode Philometra lateolabracis (Yamaguti, 1935), a parasite of gonads of marine perciform fishes, were found in wild and cultured dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus (Lowe) from waters near the Balear Islands (Spain, Mediterranean Sea) and Sicily (Italy, Thyrrenean Sea), and in the greater amberjack Seriola dumerili (Risso) in Croatia (south-eastern Adriatic Sea). In wild E. marginatus in Spain, the overall prevalence was 21% and the intensity of infection 1 nematode per fish. The nematodes are briefly described and illustrated. The species Sanguinofilaria jordanoi López-Neyra, 1951, described from the ovary of Epinephelus gigas Brünich from Morocco, is synonymized with P. lateolabracis. This is the first documented record of P. lateolabracis from fishes of the Mediterranean region and its finding in S. dumerili represents a new host record. The possible importance of this pathogenic parasite for cultures of marine perciform fishes in the region is stressed

Di Cave, David

Glamuzina, Branko

Marino, Giovanna

Merella, Paolo

Morvec, František

English

UnissResearch

DISEASES OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS
Dis Aquat Org
Vol. 53: 267–269, 2003 Published February 27
Nematodes of the family Philometridae Baylis et
Daubney, 1926 are frequent parasites of the abdominal
cavity and various body tissues of freshwater and
marine fishes. Most species are known only from the
large-sized gravid females, whereas the minute males
of many species and genera have not yet been
described (Moravec et al. 1998). 
During recent years, particularly in connection with
the quickly developing cultures of marine fishes,
increasing attention has been paid to studies on the
philometrid nematodes parasitizing fish gonads.
Heavy infections by these parasites have been re-
corded in many species of marine, mainly perciform,
fishes of economic importance, both free-living and
cultured. The large-sized females of these nematodes
are usually highly pathogenic, causing serious damage
to the fish ovaries, and may thus affect fish reproduc-
tion (Ramachandran 1975, Sakaguchi et al. 1987,
Moravec et al. 1997, 2002). Although species parasitic
in fish gonads are widely distributed, to our knowledge
mainly in the tropical and subtropical regions of the
Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans, these nematodes
have so far been reported neither from the Mediter-
ranean region nor from other European waters.
Recent parasitological examinations of some marine
perciform fishes in the Mediterranean region revealed
the presence of Philometra female specimens in the
gonads of the wild dusky grouper Epinephelus mar-
ginatus (Lowe, 1834) (family Serranidae, Perciformes)
off the Balearic Islands, Spain (Mediterranean Sea)
and of wild and cultured E. marginatus off Sicily, Italy
(Thyrrenean Sea). Of 14 Spanish localities, the parasite
was recorded from fishes in 5 localities (Alcudia, Cabr-
era, Cala Ratjada, Columbretes, Soller), with an overall
prevalence (including fish from all localities) (n = 109)
of 21% and an intensity of infection of 1 nematode per
fish; the total body length of infected fish caught in
February, May–August and October of 1998 and 1999,
was 43 to 100 cm. Data on the prevalence and intensity
of infection and the size of host fish from Italian locali-
ties were not available; the only nematode specimen
obtained from cultured fish in Sicily was collected in
July 2001. No philometrids were found in 8 specimens
of E. marginatus bought in Portugal in October and
November 1999.
© Inter-Research 2003 · www.int-res.com*Email: moravec@paru.cas.cz
NOTE
Occurrence of Philometra lateolabracis (Nematoda: Philometridae)
in the gonads of marine perciform fishes in the 
Mediterranean region
Franti$ek Moravec1,*, Branko Glamuzina2, Giovanna Marino3, Paolo Merella4, David Di Cave5
1Institute of Parasitology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branisˇovská 31, 370 05 >eské Budeˇjovice, Czech Republic
2Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, POB 83, 20 000 Dubrovnik, Croatia
3Istituto Centrale per la Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica Applicata al Mare (ICRAM), Via di Casalotti 300, 00166 Rome, Italy
4Dipartimento di Biologia Animale, Università di Sassari, Via Vienna 2, 07100 Sassari, Italy
5Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Biologia Cellulare, Università degli Studi di Roma ‘Tor Vergata’, Via Montpellier 1, 00173 Rome, Italy
ABSTRACT: Gravid females of the nematode Philometra
lateolabracis (Yamaguti, 1935), a parasite of gonads of marine
perciform fishes, were found in wild and cultured dusky
grouper Epinephelus marginatus (Lowe) from waters near the
Balear Islands (Spain, Mediterranean Sea) and Sicily (Italy,
Thyrrenean Sea), and in the greater amberjack Seriola
dumerili (Risso) in Croatia (south-eastern Adriatic Sea). In
wild E. marginatus in Spain, the overall prevalence was 21%
and the intensity of infection 1 nematode per fish. The nema-
todes are briefly described and illustrated. The species San-
guinofilaria jordanoi López-Neyra, 1951, described from the
ovary of Epinephelus gigas Brünich from Morocco, is syn-
onymized with P. lateolabracis. This is the first documented
record of P. lateolabracis from fishes of the Mediterranean
region and its finding in S. dumerili represents a new host
record. The possible importance of this pathogenic parasite
for cultures of marine perciform fishes in the region is
stressed. 
KEY WORDS:  Parasitic nematode · Philometra lateolabracis ·
Tissue parasite · Marine fish · Epinephelus marginatus · Seri-
ola dumerili · Mediterranean region · Spain · Italy · Croatia
Resale or republication not permitted 
without written consent of the publisher
Dis Aquat Org 53: 267–269, 2003
Female philometrids morphologically identical and
undoubtedly conspecific with those from Epinephelus
marginatus were found in the gonads of 8 greater
amberjack Seriola dumerili (Risso, 1810) (Carangidae,
Perciformes) (weight 10 to 20 kg) from Donji Molunat
Bay in Croatia (south-eastern Adriatic Sea) examined
in April 1998; no data on the prevalence and intensity
of infection were available.
The body of the fixed gravid nematode females
(Fig. 1) from Epinephelus marginatus (n = 7) (measure-
ments of a specimen from Seriola dumerili is given in
parentheses) is brown, about 25 cm (25 cm) long and
979 to 2108 (1904) µm maximally wide, with rounded
ends; the posterior part of the body is distinctly nar-
rower than the anterior part. The cuticle is smooth.
Cephalic papillae are very small and indistinct when
viewed laterally. The oesophagus is narrow, swollen
near the mouth to form a distinct bulb 122 to 163
(136) µm long and 190 to 204 (204) µm wide, which is
not separated from the posterior cylindrical part of the
oesophagus. The overall length of the oesophagus is
1.17 to 1.54 (1.44) mm, representing 4.7 to 6.1 (5.7)% of
the body length; the maximum width of its cylindrical
part is 150 to 177 (204) µm. The dorsal oesophageal
gland is prominent, extending anteriorly to the level of
the nerve ring and posteriorly to the small ventriculus;
the gland is provided with a giant cell nucleus located
in about its middle, 694 to 925 (816) µm from the ante-
rior extremity. The ventriculus mea-
sures 41 to 54 × 109 to 122 (54 ×
122) µm. The nerve ring is 272 to 367
(340) µm from the anterior body end.
The intestine is dark brown; the ante-
rior end is broad and the posterior end
atrophied, forming a ligament attached
ventrally to the body wall, not far ante-
rior to the posterior extremity. The pos-
terior end of the body is rounded and
no minute lateral papilla-like projec-
tions were observed on it. The vagina
and the vulva are absent. Two ovaries
are rather broad and are situated near
the anterior and posterior ends of the
body; the anterior ovary sometimes
reaches up to the level of the nerve
ring, the posterior ovary nearly to the
body end. The uterus occupies most of
the body and is filled with eggs, devel-
oping embryos and first-stage larvae;
the length of the larvae is about
450 µm.
Even though no males of this philo-
metrid species were found, the general
morphology and measurements of the
gravid females show that they can
be identified as Philometra lateo-
labracis (Yamaguti, 1935), a species
originally described from the ovaries of
the marine perciform fishes Lateo-
labrax japonicus (Cuvier) (family Per-
cichthyidae), Parapristipoma trilinea-
tum (Thumberg) (Pomadasyidae) and
Epinephelus akaara (Temminck et
Schlegel) in Japan (Yamaguti 1935),
and later reported from a variety of
fishes mainly from the tropical regions
of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic
Oceans (see Moravec et al. 1995). Since
the males of this species have not yet
268
Fig. 1. Philometra lateolabracis (Yamaguti, 1935) gravid females from the
ovaries of marine perciform fishes from the Mediterranean region. (A) Anterior
and (B) posterior ends of a specimen from Epinephelus marginatus from Spain.
(C) Posterior end (intestine end with ligament torn off from body wall and
drawn back into body) and (D) anterior end of a specimen from Seriola 
dumerili from Croatia
Moravec et al.: Philometra lateolabracis in gonads of marine perciform fishes
been described from the type host in Japan and almost
all subsequent records are based on females, the possi-
bility cannot be excluded that, in fact, P. lateolabracis
includes more than one species (Moravec et al. 1998).
López-Neyra (1951) described a new philometrid
species, Sanguinofilaria jordanoi, from the females
found in the ovary of Epinephelus gigas (= E. margina-
tus) obtained from the market in Tetuán, Morocco. The
morphology and measurements of S. jordanoi are prac-
tically identical with those of specimens of the present
material, the host species is the same, and the host fish
of S. jordanoi probably originated from the Mediter-
ranean Sea. Therefore, we consider S. jordanoi to be a
junior synonym of Philometra lateolabracis. The genus
Sanguinofilaria Yamaguti, 1935 was synonymized with
Philometra Costa, 1845 by Rasheed (1963).
The present data suggest that Philometra lateo-
labracis is a widely distributed parasite of marine per-
ciform fishes in the Mediterranean region. Since it may
prove to be a significant pathogen in fish cultures in
this geographical region, further, more detailed studies
of this parasite are desirable. Philometrids parasitizing
in the gonads of their fish hosts may cause serious
damage to these organs (by sucking blood, causing
atrophy of developing ova in the ovary, fibrosis of ovar-
ian tissue, increased granulocytes and haemorrhages),
thus negatively affecting the reproduction of some
species of marine fishes (Moravec et al. 2002).
Acknowledgements. The authors thank Mrs. I. Husáková,
Institute of Parasitology, ASCR, >eské Budeˇjovice, Czech
Republic, for her technical assistance with the preparation of
illustrations. This paper was partly supported by grant no.
524/03/0061 from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic.
LITERATURE CITED
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269
Editorial responsibility: Wolfgang Körting,
Hannover, Germany
Submitted: April 12, 2002; Accepted: December 2, 2002
Proofs received from author(s): January 23, 2003


Occurrence of <i>Philometra lateolabracis</i> (Nematoda: Philometridae) in the gonads of marine perciform fishes in the Mediterranean region

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