An ecological and comparative analysis of parasites in juvenile Mugil liza (Pisces, Mugilidae) from two sites in Samborombón bay, Argentina

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Mugil liza Valenciennes, 1836 is an economically important food fish and has been recommended for aquaculture in South America. A total of 278 fishes were collected in the spring and summer of 2009 and 2010. These fish were sorted into sample groups according to their size class. We used Bayesian statistics and 95% credible intervals for each parameter tested were calculated. Fish studied harbored a total of 15 different species of parasites. Diversity of parasite species found on Mugil liza was greatest at the S.R.C. collection site, but evidenced a lower species richness than at A.R. site. The 1st size fishes of both sites evidenced greater parasite diversity than either 2nd or 3rd size fish. Differences observed could be explained by the different use of habitat types at the two sites or differential susceptibility to infection by parasites. The dominance of D. fastigata influenced observed results of lower community diversity indexes. New works elucidating different parasite life cycles within juvenile and adults of M. liza in Argentina, promise to be important for determining the risk of the parasitism by zoonotic metacercariae A. (P.) longa and use of this fish as food and an economic resource, and the possible use of mullet parasites in other promising fields as indicators of biodiversity, and/ or water contamination. KEYWORDS.Bayesian statistic, Ascocotyle, Dicrogaster, Hymenocotta, Phyllodistomum. RESUMEN. Análisis ecológica y comparativa de parásitos en juveniles deMugil liza (Pisces, Mugilidae) de dos sitios en la baía Samborombón, Argentina. Mugil liza, Valenciennes, 1836 es un pez de importancia comercial y ha sido recomendado en Sudamerica para la acuicultura. Los peces se distribuyeron en grupos de acuerdo con la talla. Usamos estadística Bayesiana e intervalos de credibilidad del 95% para cada parámetro calculado. Los peces alojaron un total de 15 especies parasitarias. La diversidad de las especies parasitas de M. liza fue mayor en el sitio de colecta S.R.C., pero evidencio una menor riqueza especifica que en A.R. La 1er talla de los peces de ambos sitios evidencio una mayor diversidad parasitaria que la 2da o 3er talla. Las diferencias observadas se pueden explicar por un uso diferente del hábitat en los dos sitios o a una susceptibilidad diferente a la infección por los parasitos. La influencia de la dominancia de D. fastigata resulta en el menor índice de diversidad de la comunidad. Nuevos trabajos que diluciden los diferentes ciclos de vida de los parásitos en los juveniles y adultos de M. liza en Argentina, prometen ser importantes para determinar el riesgo del parasitismo de la metacercaria zoonotica A. (P.) longa y el uso de este pez como alimento, una fuente económica y el posible uso de los parásitos de la lisa en otros promisorios campos como indicadores de biodiversidad y/o contaminación acuática.

Inflammatory reaction induced by Floridosentis mugilis (Acanthocephala, Neoechinorhynchidae) in the intestine of Mugil liza

“…Species of Floridosentis Ward, 1953 (Acanthocephala) are common parasites of mugilid fishes which live in marine and brackish waters. They are widely distributed in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Alarcos and Etchegoin 2010;Rosas-Valdez, Morrone, and García-Varela 2012;Montes and Martorelli 2015) and rarely parasitise other marine fish. In Argentina, the only mullet species with a permanent presence is M. liza (González-Castro, Macchi, and Cousseau 2011), This fish uses estuarine habitats as feeding growth and gonadal maturation sites (González Castro, Abachian, and Perrotta 2009;González Castro 2018).…”

“…During our routine investigations on the parasite fauna of fishes from brackish waters of Samborombón Bay, a total of 15 species of parasites were recorded in juvenile lebranche mullets (Montes and Martorelli 2015), but only one species of acanthocephalan worm was found attached in the intestinal wall. It was identified as Floridosentis mugilis (Machado-Filho, 1951).…”

Current Knowledge of Small Flukes (Digenea: Heterophyidae) from South America

“…Its life-cycle includes adult parasites in the intestine of fish-eating birds and mammals and the metacercaria mainly in mullets (Mugil spp.) [14,18,24,[26][27][28][29][30][31]. The life cycle of A. longa is associated with estuaries and coastal lagoons, where the mugilid juveniles become infected [7,17,24,[26][27][28]30].…”

“…[ 14 , 18 , 24 , 26 – 31 ]. The life cycle of A. longa is associated with estuaries and coastal lagoons, where the mugilid juveniles become infected [ 7 , 17 , 24 , 26 – 28 , 30 ]. The first intermediate host in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay is the snail Heleobia australis (d’Orbigny, 1835), in which rediae and parapleurolophocercous cercariae develop [ 7 , 31 ].…”