| Banded killifish (Fundulus diaphanus) parasite assemblages were studied from three littoral habitat categories in the Hudson River estuary. Two study sites were chosen within each habitat type (total of six sites) and 180 host fish were examined for all metazoan and protozoan parasites, providing baseline parasite community data. Twenty parasites were found and parasite prevalence, abundance, richness, and community similarity between sites were calculated. Five microscopic myxozoan species were found and infra- and component community richness values are reported. There were differences in abundance between some sites for 80% of the countable parasite species. The differences among parasite assemblages for all sites suggest related differences among all sites' ecosystem dynamics and free-living species abundance and richness, even between sites within the same habitat category. This study was undertaken to gain ecological information about littoral habitats in the Hudson River, which could potentially inform future restoration efforts. |
