Ergasilus chelangulatus sp. nov. (Copepoda: Ergasilidae) a branchial parasite of the freshwater catfish, Pimelodus maculatus from the upper São Francisco River, Brazil

Abstract

Ergasilus chelangulatus sp. nov. is described from the freshwater fish, Pimelodus maculatus Lacépède, 1803 (Siluriformes: Pimelodidae) of the upper São Francisco River, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The new species is based on female specimens and the male is unknown. This species has a serrate seta on exopod one and a two-segmented first endopod, as do most Amazonian species of this genus. The body is elongate and produced anteriorly. The antennae are elongate and have prominent sensilla on segments two and three. Ergasilus chelangulatus sp. nov. can be distinguished from all known species of Ergasilus by the fourth antennal segment (claw) which is bent at nearly a right angle.

First record of an epibiont protozoan Epistylis sp. (Ciliophora, Peritrichia) attached to Ergasilus chelangulatus (Ergasilidae) in Brazil

“…This species has been described by Thatcher and BrasilSato (2008) parasitising the gills of P. maculatus from the upper São Francisco River. The specimens collected here presented the measurements very similar to those found by Thatcher and Brasil-Sato (2008). Members of this family can produce epithelial hyperplasia, metaplasia, and lamellar fusion in the gill filaments of their hosts.…”

“…In this study, we found the parasitic copepod, Ergasilus chelangulatus Thatcher and Brasil-Sato, 2008 (Figures 2 and 3) a member of the family Ergasilidae, order Poecilostomatoida parasitising the gills of P. maculatus. This species has been described by Thatcher and BrasilSato (2008) parasitising the gills of P. maculatus from the upper São Francisco River.…”

“…The gills, skin, nostrils, and oral cavity were examined in search of parasitic crustaceans. The crustaceans found were fixed in 70°GL alcohol, were subsequently mounted between a slide and a coverslip using Gray & Wess, and were identified according to Thatcher and Brasil-Sato (2008). The sessile ciliates were mounted in Gray & Wess between a slide and a coverslip, since this mounting medium was very satisfactory for this group of parasites.…”

Checklist of Crustacea parasitizing fishes from Brazil

“…Brasergasilus oranus Thatcher and Boeger, 1984 Anodus elongatus; unspecified site of infestation; freshwater; unspecified locality (Eiras et al 2010 Ergasilus calophysus Thatcher and Boeger, 1984 Calophysus macropterus; unspecified site of infestation; freshwater; unspecified locality (Eiras et al 2010). Ergasilus chelangulatus Thatcher and Brasil-Sato, 2008 Pimelodus maculatus; gills; freshwater; Minas Gerais (Thatcher and Brasil-Sato 2008a;Eiras et al 2010). Ergasilus coatiarus Araujo and Varella, 1998 Cichla monoculus, C. orinocensis, C. temensis; gills; freshwater; Amazon River (Araújo et al 2009;Eiras et al 2010).…”

Metazoan parasites of Mandi-amarelo Pimelodus maculatus and of Jundiá Rhamdia quelen (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes) of Paraíba do Sul River, Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro

“…On the parasite fauna of these siluforms, a number of taxonomic studies as well as studies on the occurrence of these species are of great importance. These include the studies by Cellere et al (2002), Martins et al (2004), and Matos et al (2005) on Myxozoa; Kohn (1990), Kritsky et al (1995Kritsky et al ( , 2000, , Boeger et al (2001), Cohen andKohn (2008), andCarvalho et al (2009) on Monogenea; Kohn and Froes (1986), Kohn et al (1997), Amato, S. and Amato, J. F. R. (1993), Bello et al (2000), Brasil-Sato and Pavanelli (2004), Vianna et al (2005), Kohn et al (2007), and Silva et al (2008) on Digenea; Pavanelli and Santos (1992), Rego et al (1999), and Pertierra (2002) on Cestoda; Brasil-Sato and and Santos et al (2008) on Acanthocephala; Travassos et al (1928), Pinto et al (1974), Kohn et al (1985), Kohn and Fernandes (1987), Vicente et al (1985), Moreira et al (1991), Thatcher (1991), Moravec et al (1993a, b), Moravec (1998), Pinto (1999), Brasil-Sato (2003), and Madi and Silva (2005) on Nematoda; and Boxshall and Montú (1997) Ecological studies of the parasite fauna of P. maculatus were done by Brasil-Sato and Pavanelli (1999), and contain data on the acanthocephalus Neoechinorhynchus pimelodi by Pavanelli et al (1997) on endoparasitic helminthes of species of the Paraná River; by Santos et al (2007) and Albuquerque et al (2008) on metazoan and endoparasites o...…”