Nematodes found in the European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), a rare visitor to the Baltic Sea

The European anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus (Linnaeus, 1758), enters the Baltic Sea only occasionally. Little is known about the parasites that inhabit this fish in the northern part of its natural range (north-eastern Atlantic). This study is based on 32 anchovies sampled in autumn 2006 from a substantial bycatch accompanying sprat in the Gulf of Gdańsk (southern Baltic Sea).

The fish were examined using standard parasitological procedures, and yielded 10 L3 larvae of the nematode Hysterothylacium aduncum (Rudolphi, 1802). The prevalence and the intensity (mean and range) were 21.9%, 1.4, and 1–4, respectively.