Hemiurid and lecithasterid digenean trematodes and camallanid and cucullanid nematodes parasitizing flounders collected off the coast of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

Abstract

A total of 132 flounder specimens (60 Paralichthys isosceles, 36 Paralichthys patagonicus and 36 Xystreurys rasile) were collected off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The fish were measured, necropsied, and had their organs investigated for hemiurid and lecithasterid digenean trematodes and camallanid and cucullanid nematodes. Taxonomic identification of the parasites was based on morphological and morphometric characters and was conducted using bright-field and scanning electron microscopies. The trematodes Lecithochirium monticellii and Aponurus laguncula were found parasitizing P. isosceles, P. patagonicus and X. rasile while the nematodes Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) halitrophus and Cucullanus bonaerensis were found parasitizing P. isosceles and X. rasile and P. isosceles, P. patagonicus and X. rasile, respectively. Parasite indices of prevalence, mean intensity, mean abundance, and range of infection, as well as infection site, were evaluated for each parasite species. This study allowed to evidence the first occurrence of P. patagonicus by L. monticellii; X. rasile by A. laguncula and P. (S.) halitrophus; and P. isosceles and P. patagonicus by C. bonaerensis in the Western South Atlantic Ocean.

Digenean trematodes infecting the frigate tuna Auxis thazard (Scombriformes, Scombridae) off the Rio de Janeiro coast, Brazil, including molecular data

“…Based on the studies to date, species of Lecithochirium exhibit the full range of host specificities [10,13,21,54]. In addition to L. floridense and L. synodi, several other species of the genus, namely: L. bothi, L. genypteri, L. kawaka, L. musculus, L. microstomum, L. monticellii, L. rufoviride, and L. furcolabiatum, have been demonstrated to infect a variety of fishes from more than one family [10,13,21,27,31,90].…”