Metazoan parasite infracommunities of the dusky flounder (Syacium papillosum) as bioindicators of environmental conditions in the continental shelf of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Abstract

Background We assessed metrics of the metazoan parasite infracommunities of the dusky flounder ( Syacium papillosum ) as indicators of aquatic environmental health of the Yucatan Shelf (YS) prior to oil extraction. We sampled the dusky flounder and its parasites along the YS, mostly during the 2015 north wind season (November–April). Our aims were: (i) to determine whether the parasite infracommunity metrics of S. papillosum exhibit significant differences among YS subregions; (ii) to determine whether the probability of the occurrence of its parasite species and individuals were affected by environmental variables, nutrients, heavy metals and hydrocarbons at the seascape level; and (iii) to determine whether there were statistical differences between the parasite infracommunity metrics of S. papillosum from YS and those of Syacium gunteri from the Campeche Sound. Multivariate statistical analyses and generalised additive models (GAMs) were used to examine the potential statistical associations between the contaminants, environmental variables and parasite community metrics, and the maximum entropy algorithm (MaxEnt) was used to characterise the habitat’s suitability for the parasite’s probability of occurrence. Results We recovered 48 metazoan parasite species from 127 S. papillosum , with larval cestodes and digeneans being the most numerically-dominant. Multivariate analyses showed significant differences in parasite infracommunity metrics among Western YS, Mid YS and Caribbean subregions, with the latter being the richest in species but not in individuals. The GAM and MaxEnt results indicated a negative effect of top predators (e.g. sharks and rays) removal on parasite metrics. The parasite infracommunities of S. papillosum were twice as rich in the number of species and individuals as those reported for S. gunteri from the Campeche Sound. Conclusions The significant differences among subregions in parasite metrics were apparently due to the interruption of the Yucatan current during the north wind season. The fishing of top predators in combination with an influx of nutrients and hydrocarbons in low concentrations coincides with an increase in larval cestodes and digeneans in S. papillosum . The dusky flounder inhabits a region (YS) with a larger number of metazoan parasite species compared with those available for S. gunteri in the Campeche Sound, suggesting better environmental conditions for transmission in the YS. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-019-3524-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Parasitic crustaceans (Branchiura and Copepoda) parasitizing the gills of puffer fish species (Tetraodontidae) from the coast of Campeche, Gulf of Mexico

“…These differences in ectoparasite composition might be due to the physicochemical (water quality, nutrients, and water flow rates) and biological characteristics of the regions along the south-southwest coast from Tabasco to Campeche, and along the south-southeast coast in the Yucatán Peninsula. This hypothesis has been partially tested through a comparative study of the parasitofauna of flounder fish from the Yucatán Peninsula (i.e., Syacium papillosum and Syacium gunteri ) ( Vidal-Martínez et al 2019 ). Vidal-Martínez et al (2019) found variation in the parasite composition associated with environmental variables, suggesting the existence of two subregions in the Yucatán Peninsula (the Campeche Sound and the Yucatán Shelf).…”

“…This hypothesis has been partially tested through a comparative study of the parasitofauna of flounder fish from the Yucatán Peninsula (i.e., Syacium papillosum and Syacium gunteri ) ( Vidal-Martínez et al 2019 ). Vidal-Martínez et al (2019) found variation in the parasite composition associated with environmental variables, suggesting the existence of two subregions in the Yucatán Peninsula (the Campeche Sound and the Yucatán Shelf). However, a comparative study of the parasitofauna of Sphoeroides spp.…”

“…Knowledge of parasite diversity is an important step to understand how an ecosystem will respond to environmental stressors ( Bennett et al 2021 ). In particular, changes in the richness of parasitic species or individual parasites are indicative of environmental impact ( Sures et al 2017 ; Vidal-Martínez et al 2019 , 2022 ). The Gulf of Mexico ( GoM ) is characterized by activities such as overfishing and extraction of petroleum, which have a negative effect on biodiversity ( Soto et al 2014 ; Mendoza-Franco et al 2018 ).…”

Metazoan endoparasite fauna and feeding ecology of commercial fishes from Java, Indonesia

“…Their complex life cycles involving multiple intermediate hosts and their sensibility to specific environmental conditions allow many endoparasites to be used as environmental indicators (Palm 2011;Kleinertz et al 2016;Neubert et al 2016;Vidal-Martínez et al 2019). Marine parasitology is still a globally underrepresented field in aquatic biodiversity and ecological research, although it is an essential tool in aquatic health studies and to get insights into fish diet, fish stocks, migration, and trophic positions (Marcogliese and Scholz 1999;Marcogliese 2003;Kleinertz et al 2012).…”

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the cestode Oncomegas wageneri parasite of Mexican flounder Cyclopsetta chittendeni

“…These PAHs with terrestrial origin are transported by rivers or air to the sea (Baek et al 1991;Morrison and Boyd 1998). In the southern Gulf of Mexico, coastal and offshore petroleum extraction is a significant economic activity (García-Cuellar et al 2004;Vidal-Martínez et al 2019) that, together with natural hydrocarbon release from oil seeps, exposes marine organisms to hydrocarbons. Additionally, processed hydrocarbons, such as motor oils, diesel, and lubricants, together with other contaminants, such as heavy metals, pesticides, and fertilizers (e.g., N and P in different compounds), are also transported from the continent and released in marine waters (Morrison and Boyd 1998).…”