Abstract:En Ecuador, el conocimiento del parasitismo de isópodos sobre peces es escaso. Hasta la fecha, se tiene conocimiento de que únicamente cuatro especies de este orden parasitan peces en la Amazonía ecuatoriana. En este artículo, se reportan los primeros registros de infestación de Telotha henselii sobre loricáridos para la región Amazónica ecuatoriana, con base en especímenes recolectados en el Río Quimi, sureste del país. Telotha henselii es un ectoparásito hematófago, que se localiza principalmente en la cavid… Show more
“…Most cymothoids are parasites of marine, freshwater, and brackish teleosts (Smit et al 2014), but also may parasitise freshwater palaemonid prawns in tropical South American river systems (Wunderlich et al 2011;Andrade et al 2020). Adults of Telotha henselii are a well-known haematophagous ectoparasites cymothoid on fish, mostly found on skin and gills, and juvenile males use palaemonid prawns as optional intermediate hosts besides final hosts (Trilles and Öktener 2004;Wunderlich et al 2011;Andrade et al 2020;Anaguano-Yancha and Pilatasig, 2022;Fujita et al 2023). Therefore, the cymothoid-palaemonid system is a tractable model that could facilitate our understanding of how changes in the hydrological regime and host-related factors can influence host-ectoparasite interactions in freshwater ecosystems.…”
1. Understanding how changes in hydrological regime and intrinsic host factors drive parasite loads and dynamics remains a challenging issue in aquatic parasitology. Many host-parasite systems have shown that host-related factors can influence parasitism in freshwater systems. Temporal changes in the hydrological regime are also one key factor that could alter the streamflow and habitat area and indirectly affect the interactions between ectoparasite and host. However, there are still few studies on the combined effects of both streamflow regime and intrinsic host factors to investigate variations in parasite loads on stream ecosystems. 2. Here, we used a cymothoid-palaemonid prawn model to test whether host-related traits and the temporal changes in streamflow and area caused by the rainfall regime could influence ectoparasite loads in stream habitats. Prawns were collected seasonally over 4 years in a tropical stream in southeast Brazil. We also tested the hypothesis of whether the prawn body size covaries with cymothoid body size, and also whether this change between sex and seasons. 3. We found a strong relationship between the ectoparasite and host body sizes, which confirms Harrison’s rule of this host-ectoparasite system. Our best model showed an effect of host body size, host sex, and host molt stage, but not host age, on ectoparasite loads. Prawn females have higher ectoparasite loads than males, and there was a positive association with the ecdysis stage. Our model also predicts that decreased rainfall could increase parasitism in dry seasons by reducing the natural flow regime and habitat area in these tropical stream systems. 4. Our findings show that temporal variability in streamflow is a key environmental factor combined with host-related characteristics to drive the parasite dynamics of a cymothoid-prawn system in stream habitats.5. Identifying how the interactions between aquatic invertebrates and parasites respond to the variability in hydrological conditions can help to understand how infections and parasitism may affect the benthic invertebrates play in stream systems.
“…Most cymothoids are parasites of marine, freshwater, and brackish teleosts (Smit et al 2014), but also may parasitise freshwater palaemonid prawns in tropical South American river systems (Wunderlich et al 2011;Andrade et al 2020). Adults of Telotha henselii are a well-known haematophagous ectoparasites cymothoid on fish, mostly found on skin and gills, and juvenile males use palaemonid prawns as optional intermediate hosts besides final hosts (Trilles and Öktener 2004;Wunderlich et al 2011;Andrade et al 2020;Anaguano-Yancha and Pilatasig, 2022;Fujita et al 2023). Therefore, the cymothoid-palaemonid system is a tractable model that could facilitate our understanding of how changes in the hydrological regime and host-related factors can influence host-ectoparasite interactions in freshwater ecosystems.…”
1. Understanding how changes in hydrological regime and intrinsic host factors drive parasite loads and dynamics remains a challenging issue in aquatic parasitology. Many host-parasite systems have shown that host-related factors can influence parasitism in freshwater systems. Temporal changes in the hydrological regime are also one key factor that could alter the streamflow and habitat area and indirectly affect the interactions between ectoparasite and host. However, there are still few studies on the combined effects of both streamflow regime and intrinsic host factors to investigate variations in parasite loads on stream ecosystems. 2. Here, we used a cymothoid-palaemonid prawn model to test whether host-related traits and the temporal changes in streamflow and area caused by the rainfall regime could influence ectoparasite loads in stream habitats. Prawns were collected seasonally over 4 years in a tropical stream in southeast Brazil. We also tested the hypothesis of whether the prawn body size covaries with cymothoid body size, and also whether this change between sex and seasons. 3. We found a strong relationship between the ectoparasite and host body sizes, which confirms Harrison’s rule of this host-ectoparasite system. Our best model showed an effect of host body size, host sex, and host molt stage, but not host age, on ectoparasite loads. Prawn females have higher ectoparasite loads than males, and there was a positive association with the ecdysis stage. Our model also predicts that decreased rainfall could increase parasitism in dry seasons by reducing the natural flow regime and habitat area in these tropical stream systems. 4. Our findings show that temporal variability in streamflow is a key environmental factor combined with host-related characteristics to drive the parasite dynamics of a cymothoid-prawn system in stream habitats.5. Identifying how the interactions between aquatic invertebrates and parasites respond to the variability in hydrological conditions can help to understand how infections and parasitism may affect the benthic invertebrates play in stream systems.
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