A checklist of parasitic helminth and crustacean species recorded in freshwater fish from Ireland

This paper presents the first checklist of helminth parasite and ectoparasitic crustacean species recorded from freshwater fish that is exclusive to Ireland. The parasite species list is arranged alphabetically by phylum and class, as appropriate, and comprises information on the parasite species name, host, location of host capture, and author and date of published record. The host list consists of all parasite species listed by host species. The significance of the occurrence (or non-occurrence) of certain parasite species or groups in Ireland is discussed and contrasted with those described from Britain. Relationships between fish range and parasite species richness and between sampling effort and species richness are presented. The relevance of these observations for further research on Irish freshwater fish helminths is also highlighted.