Data: Diversity of fish parasites of the Penzhina River (Kamchatka Krai, Russia)

The study of the fauna of fish parasites helps to understand the ways of formation of ichthyofauna and obtain a more complete knowledge of the biodiversity of the aquatic ecosystem as a whole. Parasitologically, the Penzhina River, one of the largest and most inaccessible rivers in the Russian Far East, remained poorly studied for a long time. Penzhina is characterized by an unusually extended mouth area, its estuary is distinguished by extremely high tides, up to 13.0 m, which is the highest tide in Russia. Rich ichthyofauna (21 species of fish and cyclostomes) and a variety of hydrological conditions favor the formation of a diverse fauna of fish parasites in the Penzhina River. The published parasitological data was still fragmentary and concerned few host species, so it is significantly broadened by the authors' findings and observations. The paper provides information on 122 species of fish parasites in the lower reaches and estuary of the Penzhina River, and Penzhinskaya Bay.