Occurrence of monogenetic parasites in Pimelodus argenteus (Siluriformes, Pimelodidae), Pantanal, Passo do Lontra, Miranda river, MS

Abstract

Studies on parasitological aspects of Brazilian fishes often are related with species of economic interest, such as those used in aquaculture and aquarism, with few studies for small fish species and/or with no economic value such as Pimelodus argenteus. Thus, the characterization of the fauna of monogenean parasites of P. argenteus, could provide data for the development of the area of ecology and parasitology of Neotropical fishes, as well as to provide information about host-parasite relationships for this fish species. Therefore, the aim of this study is to characterize the monogenean fauna associated with P. argenteus from Miranda River, Pantanal, MS. Thirty specimens of P. argenteus were collected in Oct/2017 with employing gill nets. The fish were euthanized, individualized, in plastic bags and frozen. In the laboratory, the standard length (0.1 cm) and total mass (0.01 g) will have been measured, and their gills removed and examined individually using a stereoscopic microscope to collect the parasites. The parasites will be processed according to Eiras et al. (2006) and morphological/morphometric analysis will be carried out using a computerized image analysis system. The parasite component community (richness, diversity, dispersion and discrepancy index), as well as the parasitological attributes (prevalence, mean abundance and mean intensity of infection/infestation) for each monogenetic species will be characterized. The relative condition factor will also be calculated in order to evaluate if there is any relation with the mean abundance of parasites.