Host specificity in copepod parasites of deep-sea fishes

Parasitic copepods belonging to two orders, Siphonostomatoida and Poecilostomatoida, are frequently reported from fish hosts in the deep sea. Three families of copepods are most commonly encountered, Sphyriidae, Lernaeopodidae and Chondracanthidae, but members of another four families, Hatschekiidae, Pennellidae, Philichthyidae and Hyponeoidae, are occasionally recorded. These parasites utilise various deep demersal fishes as hosts, especially species of the most abundant families, Macrouridae, Moridae, Synaphobranchidae and Alepocephalidae. Host specificity levels are variable, as for shallow-water fishes. In contrast, few parasites are regularly reported from fishes inhabiting the pelagic water column away from the bottom and away from the near-surface zone. Only the pennellids Sarcotretes scopeli and Cardiodectes medusaeus appear common on pelagic fishes, in the Atlantic and Pacific respectively. Host specificity levels in these two pennellid species are relatively low. It is speculated that the difficulty of encountering a host in the vast pelagic biome has restricted the diversity of parasitic copepods that have successfully colonized pelagic fishes.