Abstract
Fish parasites are considered as a part of marine biodiversity worldwide and it is very important to know the native and invasive species in Libyan waters to be included in the Libyan marine biodiversity database. Here we investigate fish parasites in alien barracudas, Sphyraena flavicauda and S. chrysotaenia, which entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal. A total of 46 and 10 individuals of S. flavicauda and S. chrysotaenia, respectively were collected along the western coast of Libya. A total of seven parasites were identified. The rates of infection in S. flavicauda and S. chrysotaenia were 46% and 32% respectively, the highest prevalence was 95.7 % for the D. cazauxi and the lowest prevalence was 4.35% for the Contracaecum type III in S. flavicauda., Moreover, the highest prevalence in S. chrysotaenia was 70% for Halacarus sp. and the lowest prevalence was 30% for Diplectanum dunanchae. D. cazauxi and D. dunanchae are monogeneans, belonging to the family Diplectanidae. These results provide a first assessment of the parasitofauna of alien barracudas in the Mediterranean Sea, filling a gap of knowledge on the biological and ecological trait of these Lessepsian fishes.