Parasites as a Limiting Factor in Exploitation of Pacific Whiting, Merluccius productus

The parasite fauna of Pacific whiting, Merluccius productus, like that of most commercial fishes in the eastern North Pacific, have not been adequately studied. The extent of our knowledge is best exemplified by the fact that, while Margolis and Arthur (1979) listed 10 parasite species recorded for this fish in Canadian waters, a small-scale survey carried out fairly recently in the Strait of Georgia (Sankurathri et al., In press) augmented that list to 22 species. In view of the strong impact that some of these parasites exert on the Pacific whiting fishery, this lack of attention is regrettable. The parasites of Pacific whiting on which attention has been focused recently belong to the protozoan phylum Myxosporea. Sankurathri (1977) described Conispora renalis from the renal tubules of the whiting in Georgia Strait. This species was found later to be identical with Myxoproteus meridionalis Evdokimova, 1977, discovered in the urinary bladder of Merluccius hubbsi Marini, 1933, on the Patagonian shelf. Evdokimova's (1977) description, chronologically before that of Sankurathri, was incorrect in placing that species in Myxoproteus. It was necessary to place it in Conispora, while retaining Evdokimova's original specific name. It is now known as