Caligids-potential pathogens for marine finfish aquaculture in Mexico?

Parasitic copepods of the family Caligidae, the so-called sea lice, may be deleterious to marine or brackish finfish aquaculture. To date, biological and ecological studies of sea lice have been mostly restricted to species from cold or temperate regions. In Mexico there are some records of sea lice species on marine fishes; however, the research regarding their biology and ecology has been scarce. It is possible that a high biodiversity of sea lice is distributed in coastal waters of Mexico; therefore, their significance as pathogenic parasites should increase. The purpose of this review is to outline the current knowledge of the life cycle, host location, ecology, effect on fish health, and control strategies of sea lice in order to establish supportive basis for natural resource management and control of parasites and diseases of marine fish cultured in Mexico.