Monitoring Neobenedenia girellae incidence in the greater Amberjack (Seriola dumerili) in Canary Islands

Abstract

Parasitic infestations are a significant bottleneck for the further expansion of the culture of different aquaculture species as the greater amberjack (Seriola dumerili), producing mass mortalities and instability of the offer and production costs. Neobenedenia girellae is one of the main parasites which cause skin infection in carangids, feeding on their mucus and epithelial cells and causing haemorrhage, hyperproduction of mucus, inflammation, and epidermis thickening (Hirazawa et al., 2013; Fernández-Montero et al., 2019). Thus, an efficient approach for controlling these parasitic infestations is of great importance to developing the culture of Seriola sp., among them freshwater or formaldehyde baths and oral treatments with antiparasitic drugs (Hirazawa et al., 2004; Hirazawa et al., 2013). However, an integrated approach considering the local specificities is necessary to maximize the protocols’ effectiveness. For those reasons, the present study aimed to assess the local specificities of Neobenedenia girellae life cycle in the context of the last challenges for climate change resilience in the Canary Islands, Spain.