Species richness and similarity of metazoan parasite communities in three species of leatherjacket (Oligoplites: Pisces: Carangidae) from the Pacific coast of Mexico

Abstract

Species richness and similarity in metazoan parasite communities of fishes can be influenced by several biotic (age, body size, vagility, feeding and social behavior, among others), and local abiotic (temperature, salinity, etc.) factors. The parasite communities of three species of Oligoplites, marine fishes from the Pacific coast of Mexico, were quantified and analyzed. Four hundred sixty‐eight leatherjackets (O. altus, n=94; O. saurus, n=260; and O. refulgens, n=114) were collected from February 2016 to June 2017 from five locations. Twenty‐eight species of metazoan parasites were recovered and identified: four species of Monogenea (adults), nine of Digenea (seven adults and two metacercariae); two of Cestoda (larvae); four of Nematoda (two adults and two larvae); four of Acanthocephala (two adults, one juvenile, and one cystacanth); four of Copepoda; and one Pentastomida (larvae). At the component community level, species richness ranged from 9 in O. saurus to 19 in O. altus. Different species of helminth dominated the component communities of each species of host. Community composition and species richness of parasites differed among the three species of host, locations, and sampling years. Host feeding behavior, body size, and vagility had the most influence on these differences.

Factors linked to interannual variation in the metazoan parasite communities of black skipjack, Euthynnus lineatus (Pisces: Scombridae)

“…Aggregation is a typical parasite dispersion pattern in marine fishes (Alves & Luque, ; Amarante, Tassinari, Luque, & Pereira, ; Iannacone et al, ; Rohde, ; Santos‐Bustos et al, ; Villalba‐Vasquez et al, ). Dispersion index ( DI ) values of the parasite communities indicated that 70% of the identified parasite species exhibited an aggregate dispersion in one or more sampling years (Table ).…”

“…Diet diversity and host body size were also determinants of higher species richness and diversity in the E. lineatus parasite infracommunities (Figure ). Host diet is vital in structuring the intestinal parasite communities of marine fish (Luque et al, ; Santos‐Bustos et al, ; Sasal et al, ; Tavares & Luque, ; Villalba‐Vasquez et al, ). As mentioned above, the predatory habits and voracity characteristic of E. lineatus (Collette & Nauen, ) expose individuals of this species to a wide variety of parasites (e.g., digeneans, cestodes, acanthocephalans, and nematodes) acquired through ingestion of infected prey.…”

“…As mentioned above, the predatory habits and voracity characteristic of E. lineatus (Collette & Nauen, ) expose individuals of this species to a wide variety of parasites (e.g., digeneans, cestodes, acanthocephalans, and nematodes) acquired through ingestion of infected prey. Host body size is a good predictor of parasite infracommunity total abundance, diversity, and species richness (Henriquez & Gonzalez, ; Iannacone et al, ; Luque & Poulin, ; Santos‐Bustos et al, ; Sasal et al, ; Vidal‐Martinez & Poulin, ; Villalba‐Vasquez et al, 2018). Large host body size can facilitate parasite colonization by ecto‐ and endoparasites because larger fish offer a greater surface area for gill‐attaching parasites, tend to ingest larger amounts of food, and are often older, meaning they have had more time to accumulate parasites than smaller, younger individuals (Bush, Fernandez, Esch, & Seed, ; Poulin, ; Santos‐Bustos et al, ; Sasal et al, ; Villalba‐Vasquez et al, 2018).…”

“…In the tropics, structural changes in marine fish parasite communities have been linked principally to host traits such as age, body size, feeding behavior, host density, and vagility. All are factors which can promote high exposure to, and colonization rates of, new parasite species, and these factors have been associated with higher species richness in parasite communities (Luque, Mouillot, & Poulin, ; Santos‐Bustos et al, ; Sasal, Morand, & Guegan, ; Soares et al, ; Villalba‐Vasquez et al, ). However, the influence of abiotic environmental factors such as local fluctuations in surface temperature, salinity, or dissolved oxygen concentrations have received only limited attention in parasitological studies (Henriquez & Gonzalez, ; Santos‐Bustos et al, ; Soares et al, ; Villalba‐Vasquez et al, ).…”

“…All are factors which can promote high exposure to, and colonization rates of, new parasite species, and these factors have been associated with higher species richness in parasite communities (Luque, Mouillot, & Poulin, ; Santos‐Bustos et al, ; Sasal, Morand, & Guegan, ; Soares et al, ; Villalba‐Vasquez et al, ). However, the influence of abiotic environmental factors such as local fluctuations in surface temperature, salinity, or dissolved oxygen concentrations have received only limited attention in parasitological studies (Henriquez & Gonzalez, ; Santos‐Bustos et al, ; Soares et al, ; Villalba‐Vasquez et al, ). Large‐scale climate fluctuations such as El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO: sea temperature warming phase) and La Niña (cooling phase) are known to affect many ecological processes, including transmission of many metazoan parasites (Alvitres, Chaname, Fupuy, Chambergo, & Cortez, ; Oliva, Barrios, Thatje, & Laudien, ).…”