Structure of parasites community in Chaetobranchopsis orbicularis (Cichlidae), a host from the Amazon River system in northern Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to investigate the component communities of parasites in Chaetobranchopsis orbicularis from a tributary of the Amazon River system, in Northern Brazil. In 32 fish examined, 902,551 parasites were collected, including Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, Piscinoodinium pillulare, Sciadicleithrum geophagi, Posthodiplostomum sp., Clinostomum marginatum, Echinorhynchus paranensis, Neoechinorhynchus pterodoridis, and Dolops longicauda. I. multifiliis was the dominant and abundant parasite species. The ectoparasites presented aggregate dispersion, but the endoparasites showed random dispersion pattern. Mean species richness was 4.0 ± 1.5 parasites, mean Brillouin diversity (HB) was 0.33 ± 0.28, mean evenness was 0.15 ± 0.13, and Berger-Parker dominance (d) was 0.85 ± 0.17. The species richness of parasites and HB were positively correlated with the length of hosts. There was positive correlation between the abundance of P. pillulare and length and weight, between the abundance of I. multifiliis and weight, as well as between the abundance of E. paranensis and N. pterodoridis and the length of hosts. Body condition of the hosts was not affected by moderate parasitism. The low diversity of endoparasites indicates that C. orbicularis is a host with low position in the food web. This is the first record of all these parasites for C. orbicularis.

CONDITION FACTOR AND ECOLOGY OF ENDOHELMINTHS IN <i>Metynnis lippincottianus</i> FROM THE CURIAí­Å¡ RIVER, IN EASTERN AMAZON (BRAZIL)

“…Neoechinorhynchus pterodoridis, an acanthocephalan described of Pterodoras granulosus Valenciennes, 1821 (Siluriformes) from Amazon River system (Thatcher, 1981) whose cycle is unknown, was also reported in Chaetobranchopsis orbicularis Steindachner, 1875 from a tributary of the Amazon River system, a definite host (Tavares-Dias and Oliveira, 2017). However, in the present study N. pterodoridis is being reported for the first time in M. lippincottianus, representing a new host record.…”

“…In the Paraná River, M. lippincottianus was infected by S.oxydoras, P. (S.) inopinatus, Contracaecum sp., Raphidascaris (Sprentascaris) mahnerti and D. pacupeva (Moreira et al, 2009;Yamada et al, 2012). However, in wild fish populations, the parasite diversity and richness depend directly on the population dynamics, age and diet of the hosts, presence of infective forms, environment quality, seasonality and geographical factors, among other biotic and abiotic factors (Hoshino and Tavares-Dias, 2014;Tavares-Dias and Oliveira, 2017).…”

“…Variation in the health status of host fish populations, such as alteration in body condition due to nutritional deficiency can lead to parasitic infections (Moreira et al, 2010;Hoshino and Tavares-Dias, 2014;Tavares-Dias and Oliveira, 2017). However, in M. lippincottianus infected by few endohelminth species, the condition factor indicated good body condition.…”

“…1.00 ± 0.08 0.77-1.26 Species richness of parasites 1.1 ± 0.8 0-3 Shannon-Wiener (H) 0.2 ± 0.3 0-1.1 Evenness (E) 0.2 ±0.3 0-1.0 Contracaecum sp. (larvae) 0.13 0.18 0.22 0.02 Neoechinorhynchus pterodoridis 0.002 0.98 -0.12 0.23 the fish can play an important role in determining the infection susceptibility of hosts, growth, and consequently has great implications in the dynamics of infection and the ecology of host-parasites interactions (Silva et al, 2011;Hoshino and Tavares-Dias, 2014;Tavares-Dias and Oliveira, 2017). In contrast, the body size of M. lippincottianus, had little influence in abundance of parasites, indicating that host body size was not an important determinant of variations in abundance of parasites species.…”

“…This knowledge may assist in plan of management in wild fish populations (Moreira et al, 2010;Silva et al, 2011). In fish populations, body length and weight can be used to estimate the relative condition factor (Kn), a tool qualitative of body conditions that can be associated with the parasites load (Moreira et al, 2010;Camara et al, 2011;Silva et al, 2011;Tavares-Dias and Oliveira, 2017). Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the ecology of the endohelminth parasites in Metynnis lippincottianus from the Curiaú River, in eastern Amazon, as well as to evaluate parasites-host relationship.…”