Metazoan parasites of the John Dory Zeus faber Linnaeus, 1758 collected from the Mediterranean Sea

The John Dory Zeus faber is a cosmopolitan fish species of important commercial value, distributed in Eastern Atlantic, Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Mediterranean and Black Seas. The aim of this study was to assess the parasite fauna of John Dory fish captured in the Mediterranean Sea. Four taxa of parasites were identified, such as the leech Calliobdella sp. (1 out of 139, 0.72%), the copepods Chondrachantus zei (1 out of 139, 0.72%), nematode larvae genetically identified as Anisakis pegreffii (114 out of 139, 82%) and a bothriocephalid tapeworms (3 out of 139, 2.15%). Anisakis pegreffii proved to be the most frequent parasite. Noteworthy, the presence of the adult bothriocephalid tapeworm was described for the first time in Z. faber. Some pathological effects due to parasites and the potential zoonotic risks were also discussed.