Use of Parasites for Separating Stocks of Greenland Halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) in the Canadian Northwest Atlantic

Abstract

The usefulness of parasites as biological tags for stocks of Greenland halibut (Reinharditius hippoglossoides) occurring off the Atlantic coast of Canada and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence was investigated. Nonparametric discriminant function analyses of eight collections comprising a total of 231 large fish (>39 cm) using counts for selected parasite taxa (Corynosoma strumosum juvenile, Otodistomum sp. metacercaria, Contracaecinea spp. larva, Anisakis simplex larva, and Pseudoterranova decipiens larva) gave accurate results (almost 100% correct classification) for the separation of fish from the Gulf of St. Lawrence from those collected from adjacent areas of the Saguenay Fjord and the Atlantic Ocean off Labrador. Little, if any, mixing of subadult or adult fish apparently occurs among these areas.