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

Abstract

The 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.

Population Biology of the Metazoan Parasites Infecting Fishes from Lakes Uba and Ruwe, Lower Rufiji Floodplain, Tanzania

“…The composition of the endo-parasite fauna of a host is dependent upon the host's feeding and other habits as well as host-specificity and distribution of the parasite [12]. In the present study, Cichlidae, Oreochromis urolepis harboured metacercariae, strigeids in the eyes and acanthocephala, in the intestine.…”

Metazoan parasites of deep-sea fishes from the South Eastern Pacific: Exploring the role of ecology and host phylogeny

“…Moreover, Chávez et al (2012) (Froese and Pauly, 2015), in line with Klimpel et al (2006), who demonstrated that parasite diversity was higher for demersal deep-sea fish than for bathypelagic species.…”

“…Numerous studies have evaluated the importance of ecological factors (i.e., diet, depth, habitat, etc.) as driving forces of the community structure of fish parasites (e.g., González et al, 2001;Muñoz, 2006;Mateu et al, 2014;Constenla et al, 2015), but research exploring the links between ecology and phylogeny in determining parasite richness are scarce (e.g., Poulin & Rohde, 1997;Morand et al, 2000;Muñoz et al, 2006;Chávez et al, 2012).…”

“…and Coryphaenoides ariommus) displayed a high degree of similarity in the endoparasites they support. Consequently, trophic patterns, specifically a broad diet (Laptikhovsky, 2005, Chávez et al 2012 but not phylogenetic factors, would be the best predictors of endoparasitic richness. As stated by Campbell et al (1980), the endoparasitic fauna of a given host species is a good proxy of the role of the host within the food web; for example, the level of parasite richness can act as an indicator of host feeding behavior, whereas the presence of trophically transmitted parasites at adult or larval stages can provide information about the role the host plays in the food web (George-Nascimento, 1987).…”

Predicting the similarity of parasite communities in freshwater fishes using the phylogeny, ecology and proximity of hosts

“…Several studies have explored how the ecology and phylogeny of marine fishes influences the similarity of their parasite communities. Support for the role of host phylogeny has been variable, ranging from substantial to absent when compared to factors such as spatial or ecological overlap among host species (Cribb et al 2002, Muñoz et al 2007, Vignon and Sasal 2010, Chávez et al 2012). However, these studies were conducted at different scales (individual host, host population, host species) and employed a variety of measures of similarity of communities in which certain larval parasites were lumped into morphospecies or excluded.…”