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CARL J. SINDERMANN
of Maine (Herrington et al., 1939 ; Nigrelli and Firth, 1939 ; Sindermann,
1961~). In the western Nort,h Atlantic Sphyrion is primarily a parasite
of redfish, but to the eastward-Iceland and northwestern Europelumpfish and wolffish are more likely to be hosts. The parasite penetrates deep in the flesh where extensive host connective-tissue encapsulation occurs around the anchor-like brown anterior extensions of the
body. External ulcerations are also common. After death of the
FIG. 10. The tissue-invading cnpepod S‘phyrion licinpi in a rotlfish and removed
to show anterior anchor.
parasite the “ c y s t s ” persist as unsightly masses in the flesh for a
number of years. These cysts must be removed from fillets before
marketing. An interesting and still unsolved aspect of Sphyrion
infestation of redfish is its marked geographic variation in occurrence ;
major centers of abundance are in the Gulf of Maine and off the coast
of Labrador, and minor centers are on the southeast part of the Grand
Bank and in the southern Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The parasite is
absent from other major fishing banks of the western North Atlantic.
According to Mann (1954) the extent of attacks on haddock varies