Survey of Anisakis larvae in marine fish of Taiwan

A survey on the prevalence and intensity of larval anisakid infection in some species of marine fishes sold in the markets at Tan-shui in northern Taiwan was carried out from May to August 1980. The general infection rate was 37.7% with an average of 14.2 larvae per fish. A total of 13 species of examined fishes were found with Anisakis larvae, these were Argyrosomus argentatus, Caranx djeddaba, Diploprion bifasciatum, Evynnis cardinalis, Lethrinus haematopterus, Megalops cyprinoides, Nemipterus virgatus, Paraplagusia formosana, Plectorhinchus pictus, Rastrelliger chrysozonus, Saurida tumbil, Scolopsis vosmeri, and Trichiurus haumela. The highest intensity of Anisakis larvae was obtained in E. cardinalis with an average of 80.3 larvae per fish; the next was in N. virgatus (76.2 larvae/fish). The parasite could not be found in the other 20 species of fishes examined.