Parasite infracommunities of a specialized marine fish species in a compound community dominated by generalist parasites

AbstractThe structure and composition of parasite communities of Mullus argentinae were analysed under two alternative hypotheses in a sample of 75 specimens caught off Mar del Plata, Argentina (38°27′S, 57°90′W). The first, based on the dominance of trophically transmitted larval parasites of low host-specificity among fish species in the region, predicts that infracommunities will be random subsets of regionally available species. The second, based on previous studies on other mullids, predicts that infracommunities will be dominated by adult digeneans. The parasite fauna of goatfishes was mainly composed of endoparasites, with metacercariae of Prosorhynchus australis accounting for most individual parasites and greatly affecting infracommunity descriptors. Its importance was reinforced by the low number of trophically transmitted larval parasites. Both hypotheses were refuted; parasite communities were not dominated either by trophically transmitted larval parasites of low host-specificity or by adult digeneans. Prosorhynchus australis was the only species displaying any degree of phylogenetic specificity. Therefore, the influence of phylogenetic factors seems to exceed that of ecological ones in determining the observed structure of infracommunities. However, it is precisely host ecology that allows P. australis to become the determinant of infracommunity structure by constraining the acquisition of other parasites. Studies aiming to determine the relative importance of evolutionary and ecological processes as structuring forces of parasite communities should take into account not only the identity and specificity of their component parasites, but also their availability in the compound community.

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Endoparasite fauna of five Gadiformes fish species from the coast of Chile: host ecology versus phylogeny

Journal of Helminthology ◽

10.1017/s0022149x10000921 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 86 (1) ◽

pp. 10-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

R.A. Chávez ◽

M.T. González ◽

M.E. Oliva ◽

I.M. Valdivia

Keyword(s):

Fish Species ◽

Multivariate Analyses ◽

Fish Ecology ◽

Fish Parasite ◽

Ecological Relationships ◽

Parasite Communities ◽

Host Phylogeny ◽

Host Ecology ◽

Degree Of Similarity

AbstractThe aims of the present study were to compare, using multivariate analyses, the degree of similarity of the endoparasite fauna of five fish species belonging to the order Gadiformes: Merluccius gayi, Merluccius australis, Macruronus magellanicus (Gadoidei) and Micromesistius australis and Nezumia pulchella (Macrouroidei), from the southern and central Chilean coast, and to evaluate whether the composition of the endoparasite fauna was determined by phylogenetic or ecological relationships. We employed our database of Merluccius australis, M. magellanicus and Micromesistius australis, which was complemented with published information for M. magellanicus, Merluccius australis, Micromesistius australis, M. gayi and N. pulchella. A higher number of endoparasite species was recorded for Merluccius australis, Micromesistius australis and M. magellanicus, namely Anisakis sp. and Hepatoxylon trichiuri, which is the most prevalent parasite among these hosts. Aporocotyle wilhelmi and Hysterothylacium sp. were detected only in M. gayi, whereas Lepidapedon sp. was found exclusively in N. pulchella. These results suggest that fish ecology rather than host phylogeny was the most important factor for the determination of similarity in parasite composition. This result could be explained by the similar trophic patterns of hosts and by the predominance of generalist larval species among these fish parasite communities.

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Parasite communities of a fish assemblage from the intertidal rocky zone of central Chile: similarity and host specificity between temporal and resident fish

Parasitology ◽

10.1017/s0031182009990758 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 136 (11) ◽

pp. 1291-1303 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

G. MUÑOZ ◽

Y. CORTÉS

Keyword(s):

Host Specificity ◽

Fish Species ◽

Fish Assemblage ◽

Parasite Species ◽

Parasite Community ◽

Central Chile ◽

Resident Fish ◽

Parasite Communities ◽

High Host Specificity ◽

Intertidal Fish

SUMMARYThe different species of a fish assemblage can, to some extent, be similar in terms of their parasite communities, which can be associated with certain ecological host traits. This study compared the parasite community descriptors between temporal and resident fish species composing an intertidal assemblage from central Chile. Host specificity and similarity indices of parasite communities among the fish species were also considered. A total of 1097 fish representing 14 species were collected during spring and summer of 2 consecutive years. A total spectrum of 40 parasite species was found, of which copepods and trematodes were the commonest. Congeneric fish species had the highest similarities in their parasite communities. Based on a cluster analysis, using only some fish species, no group was distinguished using abundance or prevalence of parasites, because 50% of parasite species had high host specificity and only few of them were shared among fish species. Adult parasites showed high host specificity and were found mainly in resident intertidal fish, whereas the temporal fish had parasites with different degrees of specificity. Consequently, resident intertidal fish were characterized by their own parasite species, meaning that their transmissions might be restricted to the intertidal zone.

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The structure of parasite component communities in brackish water fishes of the northeastern Baltic Sea

Parasitology ◽

10.1017/s0031182001007491 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 122 (4) ◽

pp. 471-481 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

E. T. VALTONEN ◽

K. PULKKINEN ◽

R. POULIN ◽

M. JULKUNEN

Keyword(s):

Baltic Sea ◽

Freshwater Fish ◽

Marine Fish ◽

Fish Species ◽

Parasite Species ◽

Marine Fish Species ◽

Metazoan Parasites ◽

Parasite Communities ◽

Bothnian Bay ◽

Marine Parasite

We used nestedness analysis to seek non-random patterns in the structure of component communities of metazoan parasites collected from 31 sympatric fish species from the northeastern Bothnian Bay, the most oligohaline area of the Baltic Sea. Only 8 marine parasite species were found among the 63 species recorded, although some marine fish species reproduce in the bay and others occasionally visit the area. Marine parasite species can utilize both freshwater and marine fish species as intermediate or final hosts, and marine fish can harbour freshwater parasite species. This exchange of parasite species between marine and freshwater fish has probably resulted from ecological factors acting over short time scales rather than from evolutionary processes acting over longer time; the key factor probably being the immediate presence of suitable intermediate and definitive hosts. Marine fish were expected to harbour species-poor parasite communities consisting mainly of generalists acquired from the sympatric freshwater fish species, which would result in a nested pattern among the different component communities. However, an anti-nested pattern was found in the component communities of metazoan parasites of fishes from the Bothnian Bay. A likely explanation for the observed pattern is that there are specialist parasite species, the majority of which are cestodes, in some of the freshwater fish species which otherwise have depauperate parasite communities.

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