Identification and prevalence of Anisakis pegreffii and A. pegreffii × A. Simplex (s.s.) hybrid genotype larvae in Atlantic horse Mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) from some North African Mediterranean coasts

Atlantic horse mackerel is one of the most popular fish for North African consumers. Mackerel constitutes a common host for the Anisakis species of infective larvae (L3). A. pegreffii and A. pegreffii × A. simplex (s.s.) hybrid genotype were identified using PCR-RFLP and entire ITS-DNA sequencing protocol. This research investigated the prevalence and mean intensity of A. pegreffii and its hybrid form in randomly collected mackerel samples throughout spring to summer seasons from the Libyan western coast. Briefly, 55 out of 240 (22.9%) fish samples were confirmed to be infected and the prevalence of A. pegreffii reached 22.08% with mean intensity of infection 29.13 ± 2.43 parasite/fish, while the prevalence of A. pegreffii × A. simplex (s.s.) hybrid genotype was 0.8% with mean intensity of infection 22 ± 0.85 parasite/fish. The prevalence of infection noticeably elevated during the summer season to reach 30.8%. Additionally, female fish samples were heavily infected as the mean intensity of infection was 34.75 ± 1.27 parasite/fish. Furthermore, results indicated that the highest intensity of infection was recorded in older and female mackerel. To sum up, the current study has provided substantial information about the impacts, diversity and epidemiology of A. pegreffii and its hybrid form in North African waters. Keywords: Anisakis pegreffii, Anisakis hybrid genotype, PCR-RFLP, Atlantic horse mackerel, Trachurus trachurus, Liby