Dadaytrema oxycephala (Digenea: Cladorchiidae) in definitive host Pimelodus blochii (Pisces: Pimelodidae), with morphological and geographic distribution data in fishes from the South America.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe structural and ultrastructural morphological data of Dadaytrema oxycephala (Diesing, 1836) Travassos, 1931 in Pimelodus blochii Valenciennes, 1840 from western Amazon (Brazil), besides geographic distribution in host fishes from South America. Of 160 P. blochii examined in the rivers Acre and Iaco, 15% were infected by D. oxycephala with mean intensity of 6.5 ± 1.9 and mean abundance of 1.0 ± 5.1. All parasites were found in the intestine of the infected hosts. The structural and ultrastructural characteristics of the developmental stages of D. oxycephala are presented and discussed. Dadaytrema oxycephala has a wide geographic distribution in South America, parasitizing fish species of Characiformes and Siluriformes from Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Peru and Paraguay. We elucidated part of life cycle of D. oxicephala in P. blochii, which is a definitive host for this digenean.