The occurrence of epizoic ciliates (Protozoa: Ciliophora) of the juvenile flounder, Platichthys flesus L., 1758, from Sarıkum Lagoon Lake (Sinop, Turkey)

The occurrence of epizoic ciliates on the juvenile flounder,\udPlatichthys flesus\udL., 1758, collected monthly by\udfishing net in Sinop?s Sar?kum Lagoon Lake during the period from May 2003 to April 2004, was investigated. Five epizoic\udciliate species,\udTrichodina jadranica\ud(Raabe, 1958) Haider, 1964;\udTrichodina domerguei\udWallengren, 1897;\udRiboscyphidia\udsp.;\udAmbiphrya\udsp.; and\udVorticella\udsp., were found after examination of 296 juvenile flounder. Among these,\udT. jadranica\udwas the dominant species. The prevalence and mean intensity\udvalues of the 5 epizoic ciliates were given as pooled data\udfor 2 groups, namely mobiline ciliates and sessiline ciliates. Mobiline ciliates were commonly found on the gills of juvenile\udflounders, whereas sessiline ciliates were found only on fins.\udThe highest prevalence and mean intensity levels of mobiline\udciliates were recorded in the winter and spring seasons. Sessiline ciliates were absent in\udwinter. The largest-sized juvenile\udflounder among the established 6 length classes had a higher in\udtensity of mobiline ciliates. This study is the first on the\udepizoic ciliate fauna present on the juvenile flounder in Turkey. While\udT. jadranica\udis a new parasite record, the juvenile\udflounder is a new host record for\udT. domerguei\udin Turkey.Sinop Sar?kum Lag?n??nden May?s 2003 ? Nisan 2004 tarihleri aras?nda her ay??r?p ?ekilerek yakalanan yavru dere\udpisisi bal???n?n,\udPlatichthyes flesus\udL., 1758, epizoik siliatlar? belirlendi.\udTrichodina jadranica\ud(Raabe, 1958) Haider, 1964;\udTrichodina domerguei\udWallengren, 1897;\udRiboscyphidia\udsp.;\udAmbiphrya\udsp.; ve\udVorticella\udsp. olmak ?zere 5 epizoik siliat\udt?r? 296 adet yavru dere pisisi bal???nda\udtan?mland?. Bu t?rler aras?nda\udTrichodina jadranica\uddominat t?rd?. Be? epizoik\udsiliat?n enfeste bal?k ba??na ortalama yo?unlu?u ve enfestasy\udon oran? mobil ve sesil siliatlar olmak ?zere iki grup ad?\udalt?nda toplu olarak verildi. Mobil siliatlar yavru pisi bal?kla\udr?n solunga?lar?nda yayg?n olarak bulunurken, sesil siliatlar\udy?zge?lerinde bulundu. Mobil siliatlara ait en y?ksek enfesta\udsyon oran? ve yo?unlu?u k?? ve baharda kaydedildi. Di?er\udtaraftan sesil siliatlar k???n g?zlenmedi. Olu?turulan alt? boy s?n?f i?inden en b?y?k boy s?n?f?nda mobil siliatlar?n\udyo?unlu?u daha y?ksek oranda bulundu.\udBu ?al??ma T?rkiye?deki yavru pisi bal?klar?n?n ektoparazitik siliatlar? ?zerine ilktir.\udT. jadranica\ud, T?rkiye parazit faunas? i?in yeni parazit kayd? iken,\udT. domerguei\udi?in yavru pisi bal?klar? yeni bir\udkonak kayd?d?r