Structure of the metazoan parasite communities of haemulid fish (Actinopterygii: Perciformes) in the South Atlantic Ocean: a comparative approach

Abstract Haemulidae represents one of the most diverse, widespread and conspicuous families of Perciformes, in which most species are marine, some brackish and rarely from freshwater. From April 2009 to July 2012, 120 specimens of Conodon nobilis, 60 Orthopristis rubra and 50 Anisotremus virginicus...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências
Main Authors: FABIANO PASCHOAL, ANDERSON D. CEZAR, FELIPE B. PEREIRA, JOSÉ L. LUQUE
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Academia Brasileira de Ciências 2022
Subjects:
Brazil
ecology
Haemulidae
marine fish
neotropical region
parasite community
Science
Q
South Atlantic Ocean
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202320220205
https://doaj.org/article/ff84a3a50d334644b03f795b435c58de
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Summary:Abstract Haemulidae represents one of the most diverse, widespread and conspicuous families of Perciformes, in which most species are marine, some brackish and rarely from freshwater. From April 2009 to July 2012, 120 specimens of Conodon nobilis, 60 Orthopristis rubra and 50 Anisotremus virginicus were collected off the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and analyzed for metazoan parasites. A total of 16 parasite taxa were found on/in A. virginicus, 19 on/in Co. nobilis and 21 on/in O. rubra, in which ectoparasites were most common on A. virginicus and Co. nobilis and endoparasites in O. rubra. All parasites showed aggregate pattern of distribution (discrepancy index values higher than 0.70). Mean abundance, species richness and Brillouin index (diversity) differed among the host species, i.e., O. rubra showed the highest values, followed by A. virginicus and Co. nobilis with intermediate and lowest values, respectively. At infracommunity level was possible to observe high similarity of parasite composition among the three host species. The digeneans Leurodera decora and Monorchis latus, and the acanthocephalan Koronacantha sp. represent new locality records off Brazil. Moreover, five, four and two taxa are reported, for the first time, parasitizing Co. nobilis, A. virginicus and O. rubra, respectively.

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