A multi-year survey of helminths from the gastrointestinal tract of wild saddleback (Leontocebus weddelli) and emperor (Saguinus imperator) tamarins

Noninvasive monitoring of gastrointestinal parasites from wild primates demonstrates that parasite-host relationships are altered during habitat or climatic disturbances. Interpreting changes in parasite measures for population health monitoring is problematic, since wild primates are infected with multiple parasites that fluctuate temporally and seasonally. Individual parasite infection data from two wild populations of New World primates, the saddleback (Leontocebus weddelli) and emperor (Saguinus imperator) tamarin, were collected over three years to: 1) establish baseline levels of parasite species richness (PSR) and variation across demography; 2) test for non-random associations of parasite co-occurrence; and 3) test hypothesized relationships between group size and PSR. Ten distinguishable parasite taxa were identified from 288 fecal samples by light microscopy following centrifugation and ethyl-acetate sedimentation. These samples represented 105 unique individuals (71 saddleback and 34 emperor tamarins), across 13 saddleback and seven emperor groups. Of the parasites identified in this study, none were confirmed as host specific, and only two parasites had statistically different prevalence between the host species. With few exceptions, individual infection status remained relatively unchanged over the study period. Considering yearly pair-wise parasite associations, we detected no marked differences between expected and observed levels of co-infection, nor did we detect statistically significant associations between group size and parasite species richness over 30 group-years. Logistic models of individual infection status did not identify a sex bias; however, age or species predicted the presence of four and three parasite taxa, respectively. Our model found higher PSR for saddleback tamarins. Considering the two most common parasites, one is typically pathogenic and the other is not, reinforcing caution when translating clinical findings of pathology to real-world systems. We now have reliable baseline data for future monitoring of these populations. Next steps should involve the molecular characterization of these parasites, and the exploration of linkages with health parameters.

Parasites in Loricariidae from Brazil: checklist and new records for fish from the Brazilian Amazon

The aim of this study was to investigate the parasites fauna of Ancistrus leucostictus, Hypostomus ventromaculatus, Ancistrus sp. and Hemiancistrus sp. from the Igarapé Fortaleza River (Amapá State, Brazil), besides making a checklist of the parasite species in Loricariidae from Brazil. A total of 53 fishes were collected from November 2013 to August 2014. In the hosts, a total of 1,559 parasites of seven taxa were collected: Unilatus unilatus, Trinigyrus mourei, undetermined metacercariae, Genarchella gernachella, Raphidascaris (Sprentascaris) sp., Gorythocephalus elongorchis and Proteocephalus sp. Ectoparasite species were frequent in the examined Loricariidae species, which also had larval stages of endoparasites. The hosts with the highest sampled number, H. ventromaculatus and Ancistrus sp., had the highest parasite species richness. Loricariidae species from Brazil are parasitized by species of Protozoa, Monogenea, Nematoda, Digenea, Acantocephala, Cestoda, Crustacea and Hirudinea, but monogeneans, digeneans and nematodes were the predominant taxa.

Comparison of the endoparasite fauna of Hoplias malabaricus and Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus (Erythrinidae), sympatric hosts in the eastern Amazon region (Brazil)

Summary Hoplias malabaricus and Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus are Erythrinidae family widely distributed in the Amazon River system of great value to both commercial and subsistence fishing for riverine populations. As such, the objective of the present study was to investigate the endoparasite communities of H. malabaricus and H. unitaeniatus of a tributary of the Amazon River in the north of Brazil. The endoparasite communities of H. unitaeniatus and H. malabaricus were taxonomically similar (85%) and consisted of Clinostomum marginatum, Contracaecum sp., Guyanema seriei seriei, Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) inopinatus, Pseudoproleptus sp. and Gorytocephalus spectabilis, although the dominant endoparasite was C. marginatum, which was the most prevalent and abundant. All the specimens of both H. malabaricus and H. unitaeniatus were parasitized, with a total of 1237 helminths collected in the former host and 1151 helminths collected in the latter. Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus possessed greater parasite species richness. Both hosts had an aggregate dispersion of parasites, and the abundance of C. marginatum, Contracaecum sp. and G. spectabilis correlated positively with the weight and length of the hosts. The condition factor was not affected by parasitism, but the abundance of C. marginatum and Contracaecum sp. increased when the condition factor of the hosts decreased. This is the first report of G. seriei seriei for H. malabaricus and Pseudoproleptus sp. for H. unitaeniatus.

Ecologia da comunidade de metazoários parasitos do dourado, Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus, 1758, (Osteichthyes: Coryphaenidae) do litoral do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

From April 2009 and July 2010, 68 specimens of common dolphinfish Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus, 1758 (Osteichthyes: Coryphaenidae) collected from coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro (21-23° S, 41-45° W), were necropsied to study their infracommunities of metazoan parasites. Seventeen species of metazoan parasites were collected. All fish were parasitized by one or more metazoan. The digeneans were the majority of the specimens collected, with 90.7%. Dinurus tornatus (Rudolphi, 1819) was the dominant species with highest abundance, prevalence, frequency of dominance and mean relative dominance. The parasites species of C. hippurus showed a typical aggregate pattern of distribution. None metazoan parasites species showed correlation between total length and prevalence and parasite abundance. The metazoan parasite infracommunities C. hippurus showed dominance of endoparasites (digeneans) and no correlation between abundance and parasite species richness and the total length of the host.

Ecologia da comunidade de metazoários parasitos do dourado, Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus, 1758, (Osteichthyes: Coryphaenidae) do litoral do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

From April 2009 and July 2010, 68 specimens of common dolphinfish Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus, 1758 (Osteichthyes: Coryphaenidae) collected from coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro (21-23° S, 41-45° W), were necropsied to study their infracommunities of metazoan parasites. Seventeen species of metazoan parasites were collected. All fish were parasitized by one or more metazoan. The digeneans were the majority of the specimens collected, with 90.7%. Dinurus tornatus (Rudolphi, 1819) was the dominant species with highest abundance, prevalence, frequency of dominance and mean relative dominance. The parasites species of C. hippurus showed a typical aggregate pattern of distribution. None metazoan parasites species showed correlation between total length and prevalence and parasite abundance. The metazoan parasite infracommunities C. hippurus showed dominance of endoparasites (digeneans) and no correlation between abundance and parasite species richness and the total length of the host.