Biodiversity of Parasitic Copepods in Katsuwonus pelamis from Rio Grande do Norte Coast (NE Brazil)

Cláudio Giovanio da Silva

doi:10.19080/ofoaj.2018.08.555739

Abstract

Ictioparasitology is a science that has, among its objectives, assisted in the understanding of the interactions between fish and their parasites. Crustaceans are one of the most popular invertebrate groups exhibit a striking diversity of forms, habits and sizes, are found at all depths in the various marine and freshwater of the earth, and Copepod class are the largest group crustacean parasites in fish, with economic importance, which may result in high mortality. In the present work the biodiversity of the parasitic copepods of skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) from the Southwest Atlantic Ocean - Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, is reported. Parasitic ecological indexes (prevalence, mean intensity and mean abundance) were also calculated. Fish were collected in the coastal area of Areia Branca (state of Rio Grande do Norte) from 2015 to 2016. Standard biometrics of the hosts was also taken. Four species were identified infecting branchial chamber and body skin of K. pelamis.: Caligus pelamydis (17.65%), C. bonito (36.27%), C. productus (37.25%) and Pseudocycnus appendiculatus (8.82%).

Highlights

The ictioparasitology is a science that has, among its objectives, assisted in the understanding of the interactions between fish and their parasites
This study aimed to evaluate the parasites copepods biodiversity in the host skipjack tuna (K. pelamis) from the Southwest Atlantic Ocean - Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
They were acquired hundred and two fish (n = 102) skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) between the sampling months (December/2015 to November/2016), presented values biometric these according to Table 1

Summary

Introduction

The ictioparasitology is a science that has, among its objectives, assisted in the understanding of the interactions between fish and their parasites. The parasitism is the most common style of life on earth, as there are numerous representatives of permanent or temporarily zoological groups involved in interspecific relationship [1,2]. Copepods are the largest group crustacean parasites in fish, with more than 1,900 known species. Many species have economic importance especially when parasitize cultured fish, which may result in high mortality. All copepods have a post-embryonic development that usually goes through three stages: nauplius, copepodite and adult [9]. According to Pavanelli and Takemoto [4] the parasite identification studies are important to know possible pathologies occurring in their hosts. The damage to the host by parasitic diseases is related to the parasite species, its form of feeding, organ or tissue of an affected host, parasitism intensity and general condition of the host [5,6]

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