Study of the biodiversity of Myxozoarian (Myxozoa: Myxosporea) parasites of dominant fish species from Rio do Peixe river, tributary of the medium Tietê River, São Paulo State, Brazil by means of morphological, histological and molecular characterization

Abstract

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and has the highest species diversity of all of the megadiversity countries, accounting for roughly 14% of the world's biota. Currently, the biodiversity of marine and freshwater ecosystems of Latin America is threatened, mainly by environmental problems resulting from the degradation of the ecosystems. One example is the river Rio do Peixe, a tributary of the dam Barra Bonita whose headwater are the slopes of the Cuesta de Botucatu, presenting an altitudinal gradient, a good state of conservation and water quality, with a rich biodiversity of fish associated with presence of numerous lakes. However, in the region of its mouth, there is a dramatic change in limnological conditions due to the influence of hypereutrophic reservoir. From another perspective, studies related to parasites and other pathogens of aquatic organisms has increased considerably to relevance, especially those hosts with potential for growing and marketing, given the significant increase of these activities in Brazil and worldwide. Among the agents responsible for diseases in fish are the myxosporean, which can cause large economic damage, with high mortality ratios. Based on the above this study aims to evaluate the biodiversity of mixosporean parasites of 20 fish species collected in three parts of the river Rio do Peixe due to socio-economic importance of this river for the region and high diversity of fish, which enables many species can be studied with great possibilities for describing new species. (AU)