Diversity and community ecology of metazoan parasites in Pimelodus ornatus (Siluriformes: Pimelodidae) from the Amazonas River in Brazil

Abstract

The present study investigated the metazoan parasite community in Pimelodus ornatus from the Amazon River, in the state of Amapá (Brazil). Of 71 fish examined, 70.4% were parasitized by Demidospermus sp. (Monogenea), Cucullanus pinnai, Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) inopinatus and Contracaecum sp. (Nematoda) and plerocercoids from Proteocephalidae gen. sp. (Cestoda). The dominance was of nematode species such as Procamallanus (S.) inopinatus and Contracaecum sp. The parasites showed a highly aggregated dispersion and a predominance of hosts infected by one species of parasite. The parasite community was characterized by a low Shannon diversity index, low evenness and low species richness. The richness of parasite species, Shannon's diversity index, abundance of P. (S.) inopinatus and Proteocephalidae gen. sp. showed a positive correlation with the length of the hosts. Therefore, the size of the hosts had an influence on the parasite community and infracommunities, as well as their intermediate position in the food web. This is the first record of P. (S.) inopinatus and Contracaecum sp. for P. ornatus.

Component communities and annual and seasonal variations of metazoan parasites in Eleotris pisonis (Gmelin, 1789) (Gobiiformes: Eleotridae) in the Amazon River, Brazil

“…Infection by Contracaecum sp. was also reported in Pimelodus ornatus Kner, 1958(Lima et al, 2021 and C. asellus (Lima et al, 2023), collected in the same study area from which the specimens of E. pisonis were collected. However, there have been reports of occurrence of Contracaecum sp.…”

“…The presence of these endoparasites in E. pisonis may be related to its carnivorous feeding habit (Froese & Pauly, 2023), since infections by endoparasites have mainly been related to the diet of the host fish (Oliveira et al, 2017;Negreiros et al, 2019a, b;Lima et al, 2021Lima et al, , 2022Lima et al, , 2023. However, infection by the ectoparasite Ergasilus sp.…”

“…In addition, they influence the productivity and food web of ecosystems (Negreiros et al, 2019a;Lehun et al, 2022). Therefore, studies on wild fish parasite communities can generate information on how these parasite-host-environment relationships can respond to ecological actions such as host diet, environmental characteristics, existence of infective stages in the ecosystem and annual and seasonal variations (Negreiros et al, 2019a;Hoshino & Tavares-Dias, 2019;Hoshino & Tavares-Dias, 2020;Lima et al, 2021Lima et al, , 2022Lima et al, , 2023Lehun et al, 2022), and also the strategies used by different taxa of parasites in relation to these variables.…”

Identifikasi Parasit pada Ikan Hias Air Laut di Balai Karantina Ikan, Pengendalian Mutu dan Keamanan Hasil Perikanan Denpasar, Bali

“…2021), parasit ini ditemukan menginfestasi jenis ikan-ikan karang. Spirocamallanus (Gambar 5) sering ditemukan pada organ usus (Lima et al, 2021). Parasit ini memiliki buccale capsule panjang dan pipih yang terbagi menjadi beberapa katup dan 2 lateral dengan dinding tebal, dinding bagian dalam diperkuat dengan spiral bars, ekor menyempit di tengah dan dapat melengkung dengan dua duri apikal, memiliki sklerit berbentuk trisula menonjol ke arah dorsal, serta cincin sclerotized yang berada di antara katup dan kerongkongan (Kabata, 1985).…”

Endoparasite fauna of freshwater fish from the upper Juruá River in the Western Amazon, Brazil

“…For the Upper Juruá River region, recent studies on metazoan endoparasites have shown a great potential for diversity, where few studies carried out in these environments have already reported approximately 30 species of endoparasites (Lima et al ., 2021; Pacheco et al ., 2021; Virgilio et al ., 2021). However, none of these studies carried out in the Western Amazon analysed more than 13 host fish, which makes the present study the first to report the endoparasite fauna of metazoans of more than 50 species of host fish.…”