Ecology and seasonal variation of parasites in wild Aequidens tetramerus, a Cichlidae from the Amazon

Abstract

This study is the first investigation on seasonal dynamics of parasites component community of the Aequidens tetramerus from an Amazon River tributary, in Northern Brazil. A total of 239,2407 parasites were recovered from 92 hosts examined from February to October 2011. Such parasites included Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, Tripartiella tetramerii and Trichodina nobilis (Protozoa), Dolops longicauda (Argulidae), Gussevia alioides, Gussevia disparoides (Monogenoidea), Digenea metacercarie, Pseudoproleptus larvae, Anisakidae larvae (Nematoda), Proteocephalidea plerocercoid (Eucestoda) and Gorytocephalus spectabilis (Acanthocephala). Ciliates were the most dominant and abundant taxon, while cestodes were the least prevalent. The parasites showed seasonal variation in their infection dynamics associated with environmental changes during the Amazonian drainage season, except the infection with I. multifiliis. The parasites community in A. tetramerus was also characterized by higher diversity, species richness and uniformity during the drainage season when compared to Amazon flood season. With the exception of T. tetramerii, these parasite species are new records for A. tetramerus.

Are similar the parasite communities structure ofTrachelyopterus coriaceus and Trachelyopterus galeatus (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae) in the Amazon basin?

“…Gorytocephalus spectabilis only parasitized T. coriaceus, and at low infection levels, which were similar to those reported for Aquidens tetramerus Heckel, 1840; Heros efasciatus Heckel, 1840; Chaetobranchus flavescens Heckel, 1840; and Satanoperca jurupari Heckel, 1840 -all these hosts were also from the ecosystem of this study (BITTENCOURT et al, 2014b;TAVARES-DIAS et al, 2014). Although congeneric host species have similar biological and behavioral characteristics and are therefore potential hosts for parasitic fauna that is also similar, closely related species may also exhibit divergent characteristics that allow them to coexist, such as in relation to some trophic traits (GUIDELLI et al, 2009).…”

“…Aggregated dispersion patterns for ectoparasites and endoparasites have also been described in other freshwater hosts (MESQUITA et al, 2011;TAVARES-DIAS et al, 2014;AMARANTE et al, 2015), and these have been attributed to factors relating to the hosts, parasites and environment. These factors include formation of schools of fish, taxon in relation to sex, habitat, presence of parasite larvae, feeding habits and length of the hosts and the genetic and immune heterogeneity of the hosts (ROHDE et al, 1995;TAVARES-DIAS et al, 2014;AMARANTE et al, 2015).…”

“…Moreover, the abundance of these trichodinids was higher in individuals of T. galeatus of greater size and was lower in individuals of T. coriaceus of greater length. In populations of wild fish, infections due to species of trichodinids are more frequent in environments that are eutrophized and have low oxygen levels (BASSON & VAN AS, 2002;TAVARES-DIAS et al, 2014), like the Igarapé Fortaleza basin. This was the first record of T. tetramerii and T. nobilis for T. coriaceus and T. galeatus.…”

“…It is well known that the diet of the fish can be deduced from trophically transmitted parasites and because most endoparasites are associated with a specific ecological niche and diet, high diversity in host parasite fauna is often a result of a diverse host diet. Hence, a diverse parasitic communities of trophically transmitted parasites may indicate that the host population consumed a diversity of prey in habitat (WILSON & HUBSCHMAN, 1985;MORAVEC, 2007;TARASCHEWSKI, 2008;MOREIRA et al, 2009;MORAVEC, 2009;NEVES et al, 2013;TAVARES-DIAS et al, 2013;BITTENCOURT et al, 2014b;TAVARES-DIAS et al, 2014).…”

<b>Host-parasite interaction between crustaceans of six fish species from the Brazilian Amazon

“…Besides the lack of information on the parasite species that occur in these fish species, the variables that influence the parasite assemblage structure are also unknown. Therefore, information on the variables affecting the assemblage structure is important for in-depth knowledge of the host-parasite interaction (Fontana et al, 2012;Guidelli et al, 2009;Morley, 2007;Tavares-Dias, Oliveira, Gonçalves, & Silva, 2014).…”