TY - JOUR AU - Santos, Maria João AU - Castro, Ricardo AU - Cavaleiro, Francisca AU - Rangel, Luis AU - Palm, Harry Wilhelm PY - 2017/06/30 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Comparison of anisakid infection levels between two species of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber colias and S. scombrus) off the Atlantic Portuguese coast JF - Scientia Marina JA - Sci. mar. VL - 81 IS - 2 SE - Articles DO - 10.3989/scimar.04552.26A UR - https://scientiamarina.revistas.csic.es/index.php/scientiamarina/article/view/1711 SP - 179-185 AB - Anisakiasis is a problematic zoonotic infection associated with the consumption of raw or undercooked fish. Atlantic mackerel (<em>Scomber colias</em>) is of high commercial interest in Portugal and has been reported as a common host of <em>Anisakis</em>spp. In this study, the occurrence of anisakids is evaluated in <em>S. colias</em> and also Scomber scombrus, and the potential zoonotic risk associated with consumption of these two fishes is evaluated according to the recorded infection levels. These were found to be high for both fish species: a mean intensity and prevalence of 21.7 worms/fish and 85% for <em>S. colias</em>, and 16.4 worms/fish and 83.3% for <em>S. scombrus</em>, respectively. No correlation was detected between anisakid intensity and host total length, total weight, condition factor, and hepatosomatic and gonadosomatic indices for both fish species, but significantly higher intensity values were detected for more mature <em>S. scombrus</em>, i.e. fish recording a higher gonadosomatic index. Molecular tools allowed the identification of two species of <em>Anisakis</em>, <em>A. simplex</em> (s.s.) and <em>A. pegreffii</em>. They differed in their occurrence: in <em>S. colias</em> the prevalence of <em>A. simplex</em> (s.s.) was 18% and that of <em>A. pegreffii</em> was 82%, whereas in <em>S. scombrus</em> the prevalence of <em>A. simplex</em> (s.s.) was 73% and that of <em>A. pegreffii</em> was 27%. Occasionally, worms of <em>Hysterothylacium aduncum</em> were identified for both fish. The different infection levels of the two <em>Anisakis</em>species in both hosts off the Portuguese coast raise the hypothesis of a different life cycle at the level of the invertebrate intermediate host. <em>S. colias</em> lives in deeper waters than <em>S. scombrus</em>, and the differences found in infection levels suggest that <em>A. pegreffii</em> main first intermediate host also live in deeper waters, compared with <em>A. simplex</em> (s.s.) main first intermediate host. The higher infection levels of <em>A. simplex</em> (s.s.) (most infectious to humans) in <em>S. scombrus</em> suggest that its consumption when slightly cooked, as in grilled fish (so popular in Portugal), could be more problematic for the development of anisakiasis in humans than the consumption of <em>S. colias</em> and thus be of potential public health concern. ER -