A new species of Huffmanela (Nematoda: Trichosomoididae) parasitizing Colomesus psittacus (Tetraodontiformes) from Marajó Island, Pará State, Brazil

Abstract

The puffer fish Colomesus psittacus, is not commercialized on Marajó Island. They are captured as bycacth and discarded dead in the environment in artisanal fisheries that occur in the estuaries of northern Brazil. In this sense, the objective was to identify the parasites present in the gills and to evaluate the histopathological alterations caused by these nematodes of the genus Huffmanela. Fifty-five fish were analyzed, and thirty-five specimens showed the parasite in the gills. Morphological characteristics suggest that it is a new species of the genus Huffmanela, and the histopathological exams showed an edematous inflammation in the secondary lamella and the presence of eggs of this nematode, which is the first record of this parasite in C. psittacus in Brazil.

Description, molecular identification and pathological lesions of Huffmanela persica sp. nov. (Nematoda: Trichosomoididae: Huffmanelinae) from the daggertooth pike conger Muraenesox cinereus

“…(eggshell with protuberance) [ 43 ], H. cf. huffmani (UL with spines) [ 5 ] and H. psittacus Carvalho et al, 2022 (shell with longitudinal, oblique and transverse ridges) [ 6 ]. Of the abovementioned species, H. persica sp.…”

“… ND ND ND Smooth NF ND ND Cheilinus lunulatus (Labridae) Swim bladder Marine Red Sea off Hurghada (Egypt) [ 63 ] Huffmanela cf. huffmani 54–66 × 27–33 6–9 × 6–9 3–6 Smooth Transparent UL with minute papillae (spines) ND 3790–12,920 × 21–42 (M); 5810–14,990 × 21–36 (F) Xiphophorus variatus; Gambusia holbrooki (Poeciliidae) Swim bladder, gonad (testis), peritoneum Freshwater West central Florida (USA) [ 5 ] Huffmanela psittacus 46.7–51.7 × 21.7–25 2.30–6.70 × 8.30–10 ND Shell surface with longitudinal, oblique and transverse ridges ND ND 3400–5600 × 18–28 (M); 7500–11,900 × 30–48 (F) Colomesus psittacus (Tetraodontidae) Gills, gill arch, gill mucosa Freshwater (euryhaline fish) Marajó Island, Pará State (Brazil) [ 6 ] Huffmanela selachii 62.69–89.9 × 29.8–56.1 — × 4.5–16 ND Smooth NF ND ND Sphyrna mokarran (Sphyrnidae); Carcharhinus melanopterus (Carcharhinidae) Skin Marine Persian Gulf off Jubail (Saudi Arabia) [ 42 ] Huffmanela persica ...…”

“…Immunopathological responses induced by intercellular and intracellular infection with eggs or worms of different species of Huffmanela have been previously reported in various fish hosts, reflecting the physical and chemical damage caused by the parasite to the infected tissues. These include granulomatous inflammation (characterized mainly by infiltration of mononuclear phagocytes), inter-cellular edema (spongiosis), cellular adaptive response (hypertrophic, atrophic and hyperplastic changes), degenerative and necrotic changes and degenerative and dystrophic calcification [ 5 , 6 , 10 , 16 , 43 , 59 – 63 ].…”

“…Many previously recognized congeneric species were collected from marine fishes distributed across global ocean ecosystems. Infections due to freshwater species of Huffmanela were, however, only reported in certain fish belonging to Centrarchidae and Poeciliidae in the USA and Tetraodontidae in Brazil [ 3 – 6 ]. The amphipod crustacean Hyalella serves as the experimental intermediate host in the life cycle of freshwater populations of Huffmanela ( Huffmanela huffmani , Moravec, 1987) [ 7 , 8 ].…”

A new nematode of the family Capillariidae identified in Cairina moschata (Linnaeus) on Marajó Island in the Brazilian Amazon

“…Forty-five nematodes (22 females and 23 males) were fixed in 3% glutaraldehyde, washed in 0.2 M phosphate buffer solution, post-fixed in 1% osmium tetroxide for 2 h, dehydrated in progressive alcohol for 1 h each (50%, 70%, 80%, 90%, and 100%), dried at the critical point of CO 2 , metalized with gold-palladium, and observed using a Vega 3 (TESCAN, Brno, Czech Republic) scanning electron microscope, according to Carvalho et al (2022) .…”