Biodiversity of metazoan parasites in Acestrorhynchus lacustris (Lütken, 1875) (Characiformes: Acestrorhynchidae) from the Batalha River, São Paulo State, Brazil

Abstract

We collected 32 specimens of peixe-cachorro, Acestrorhyncus lacustris (Lütken, 1875), in a stretch of the Batalha River where there is the formation of a water catchment pond used to supply the local human population, on the boundary between the cities of Bauru and Piratininga, SP, from May to September 2013 aiming to conduct a qualitative and quantitative study of its metazoan parasites. A total of 14 parasites species were collected and identified: Diaphorocleidus sp., Austrodiplostomum compactum, Bellumcorpus major, Rhipidocotyle santanaensis, R. gibsoni, Capillariidae gen. sp., Contracaecum sp., Goezia brasiliensis, Guyanema raphiodoni, Travassosnema travassosi, Philometroides caudata, Spiroxys contortus, Heliconema sp. and Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) inopinatus. The parasite community was characterized by high diversity (HB = 1.42 ± 0.43) highlighting the nematodes, which represented the majority of the collected parasites. Travassosnema travassosi was the dominant species (frequency dominance = 53.1% and relative dominance = 0.3 ± 0.1). The parasites showed the aggregate distribution pattern, and only A. compactum showed a random distribution pattern. It is the first record of the species A. compactum, B. major, Capillariidae gen. sp., G. brasiliensis, G. raphiodoni, S. contortus and Heliconema sp. for this host.