ПАРАЗИТИ БИЧКА-КРУГЛЯКА NEOGOBIUS MELANOSTOMUS (PALLAS, 1814) ІЗ СОЛОНУВАТИХ АКВАТОРІЙ ПІВДЕННО-ЗАХІДНОЇ УКРАЇНИ: ІНДИКАТОРИ ЯКОСТІ РИБНОЇ СИРОВИНИ

• Datum: 2026
• Hauptverfasser: Дудлів, І., Квач, Ю.
• Format: Artikel
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlicht: Marine Ecological Journal 2026
• Schlagworte: паразити; Galactosomum lacteum; Ergasilus gobiorum; індикатори якості; Одеська затока; Кучур- ганське водосховище.
• Online Zugang: https://mej.od.ua/index.php/mej/article/view/725
• Назва журналу: Marine Ecological Journal

This study provides a comprehensive parasitological assessment of the round goby Neogobius melanostomus (Pallas, 1814) from two ecologically contrasting water bodies in Southwestern Ukraine – the brackish Gulf of Odesa (Black Sea) and the freshwater Cuciurgan Reservoir. The main objective was to evaluate parasite-based indicators of fish raw material quality and to explore the potential of parasite communities as bioindicators of environmental condition. During the 2025 warm season, a total of 37 specimens were examined to determine the taxonomic composition, infection indices, community structure, and spatial variation in parasite fauna across the two habitats. In the Gulf of Odesa, the parasite community was dominated by euryhaline intestinal nematodes (Dichelyne minutus) and metacercariae of marine digeneans (Galactosomum lacteum), alongside occasional findings of Cryptocotyle jejuna, Proteocephalus gobiorum, and Telosentis exiguus. This infection profile is characteristic of brackish-water systems with complex food webs and pronounced interactions between fish and invertebrate hosts. In contrast, the Cuciurgan Reservoir exhibited a parasite community dominated by the gill ectoparasite Ergasilus gobiorum, which accounted for more than 80% of total parasite abundance. Additional taxa included Bucephalus polymorphus, Eustrongylides excisus larvae, and Trichodina sp. The comparison between localities revealed marked differences in community structure driven by salinity, trophic interactions, and ecological gradients. A noteworthy finding is the confirmed presence of G. lacteum in the Gulf of Odesa, which represents the first modern record for this region and extends the known distribution of the species along the northwestern Black Sea coast. Several identified parasites hold economic or sanitary importance, including the gill parasite E. gobiorum and zoonotic taxa such as E. excisus and B. polymorphus. The results demonstrate that the parasitological profiles of the round goby can serve as valuable indicators of fish raw quality, ecological status of aquatic environments, and may be integrated into monitoring and safety assessment systems, including HACCP-based frameworks.