Metazoan parasite fauna of grey mullet (Mugilidae) from the coastal waters of Vietnam

A total of 201 fishes of the family Mugilidae caught off central Vietnam (Nha Trang Bay) were examined for parasites. Eight species of Mugilidae were identified based on cytb and 16S rRNA sequences. Protozoa were not revealed. The metazoan parasites belong to six higher taxa. Myxozoa Grassé, 1970 is represented by six genera, three of which were first found in grey mullets off Vietnam. The specimens of Monogenea Van Beneden, 1858 belong to two genera: Ligophorus Euzet et Suriano, 1977 and Metamicrocotyla Yamaguti, 1953. Twelve species of the former were recorded for the first time both in the coastal waters of Vietnam and in the East Sea. Trematoda Rudolphi, 1808 is represented by the members of the four families, of which only three species, Haplosplanchnus pachysoma (Eysenhardt, 1892), Pseudohaploporus planilizum Atopkin, Besprozvannykh, Ha, Nguyen, Nguyen & Chalenko, 2019 and Spiritestis arabii Nagaty, 1948, were identified. The latter was first recorded in the East Sea. Acanthocephala Rudolphi, 1808 specimens belong to the species Neoechinorhynchus dimorphospinus Amin & Sey, 1996. Crustacea Brünnich, 1772 are represented by five families, of which only the copepod Lernanthropsis mugilii (Shishido, 1898) and the isopod Nerocila orbignyi (Guérin, 1832) were identified. Hirudinea Savigny, 1822 were not determined to genus and species level. A total of 25 species of parasites were found in the Mugilidae fishes examined in Nha Trang Bay. In general, 96 species of parasites are currently documented in these fishes in the East Sea, 55 of which occur off Vietnam. As a result of this study, carried out off central Vietnam, 16 parasite species were recorded in grey mullet for the first time in Vietnamese coastal waters and 15 for the first time in the East Sea. Thus, extending the geographical range of the studies may result in new records of parasites in these fishes.