Abstract
The present work had the objective to study parasitic copepods in the nasal fossae of fish from the upper Paraná river floodplain. Fish were captured in different locations of the floodplain in March, June and September, 2004. A total of 73 specimens (Characiformes) were collected, belonging to 4 distinct families and 5 species: Acestrorhynchus lacustris (Acestrorhynchidae), Schizodon borellii (Anostomidae), Prochilodus lineatus (Prochilodontidae), Serrasalmus marginatus and Serrasalmus maculatus (Serrasalmidae). Among 73 fishes examined, 53 were parasitized by nasal fossae copepods, varying from 1 to 146 parasites per host. Parasites found belonged to 3 known species: Gamidactylus jaraquensis Thatcher & Boeger, 1984; Gamispatulus schizodontis Thatcher & Boeger, 1984; and Rhinergasilus piranhus Boeger & Thatcher, 1988. There were differences in parasite corporal measurements and in the quantity of parasites per host in relation to copepod parasites from the Amazon region. The present study constitutes one of the few studies of identification of copepod parasites in the nasal fossae of fish from the Southern region of Brazil.
Highlights
Class Copepoda has over 1,900 species of fish parasites (Eiras, 1994)
The nasal fossae of fish were washed with formalin 1:4000, and the liquid was analyzed under a stereomicroscope
Parasites found belonged to 3 known species: Gamidactylus jaraquensis Thatcher & Boeger, 1984 (Figure 1); Gamispatulus schizodontis Thatcher & Boeger, 1984 (Figure 2) and Rhinergasilus piranhus Boeger & Thatcher, 1988 (Figure 3)
Summary
Class Copepoda has over 1,900 species of fish parasites (Eiras, 1994). They can attach to gill filaments, nasal fossae and tegument. Among the main copepods parasites of the nasal fossae of neotropical freshwater fish are the families Ergasilidae Thatcher & Robertson, 1984 and Vaigamidae Thatcher & Boeger, 1984 They can be recognized by a distinct blue or purple pigmentation that usually forms unique distribution patterns, something that free-. Fishes studied in the present paper are Characiformes, an order that comprises the majority of freshwater fish species and is restricted to South America and Africa This group contains species of great economic interest for aquariofily and feeding (Ferreira et al, 1998). Authors such as Boeger and Thatcher (1988), Thatcher (1991) and Varella and Malta (1995) studied parasitic copepods of Characiformes. Most studies have been restricted to the Amazon region
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