Parasites as indicators of population connectivity of a small pelagic fish in the Gulf of California

The Gulf of California is the most important fishing region in Mexico in terms of total fisheries landings. Management of the small pelagic fishery in the Gulf needs improved understanding of the movement of individual fish across the geographical space. In this study, we used parasite data to gain insights into the population structure of shortjaw leatherjacket, Oligoplites refulgens (Carangidae), along the east coast of the Gulf. A parasitological study of 119 fish revealed the occurrence of 12 metazoan parasite species. Significant differences in the structure of parasite infracommunities between Guaymas and Yavaros indicated limited connectivity of the fish populations between these two localities. These results show the valuable insights that short-lived parasites can provide regarding fish ecology; therefore, we suggest that their use as biological tags should be further explored to determine stock patterns of small pelagic fishes in the Gulf of California.