Abstract
Most freshwater species of Cymothoidae are distributed in South America. They have mainly been recorded in the eastern and western regions of the Amazon River basin. However, in this ecosystem, the biodiversity of this group may be greater if the entire Amazon basin is considered. In this regard, the aim of the present study was to provide an updated list of isopod species of the family Cymothoidae that are found in fish in the Brazilian Amazon region and to report on new fish host occurrences and expanded geographical distributions for cymothoid isopods that parasitize fish in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon region. The parasites found in fish specimens were collected, fixed and identified later. We found eight species of Cymothoidae parasitizing different host fish species in the southwestern Amazon region. However, we found 14 species of Cymothoidae throughout the Brazilian Amazon region. Three additional species are thus reported here, which increases the number of species of Cymothoidae in this region to 17. These additional species are also new records for Brazil. Therefore, this study has contribute to expand the knowledge about the distribution and diversity of Cymothoidae in the Amazon basin.
Highlights
The family Cymothoidae comprises around 40 genera and 380 species that have been described
The aim of this study was to provide an updated list of isopod species of the family Cymothoidae that are found in fish in the Brazilian Amazon region and to report on new fish host occurrences and expanded geographical distributions for cymothoid isopods that parasitize fish in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon region
Parasites of the family Cymothoidae are distributed throughout the Amazon River basin, in which the largest numbers of species have been reported in the central and eastern regions of this basin, where these cymothoids parasitize a great diversity of hosts belonging to the families Acestrorhynchidae, Anostomidae, Arapaimidae, Bryconidae, Curimatidae, Cynodontidae, Triportheidae, Serrasalmidae, Loricariidae, Pimelodidae, Lebiasinidae, Cichlidae, Erythrinidae and Sciaenidae (Table 1)
Summary
The family Cymothoidae comprises around 40 genera and 380 species that have been described. Some species occur in both marine and freshwater environments (Ahyong et al, 2011; Smit et al, 2014) They are obligate parasites, and mostly use fish as their hosts, some parasitize shrimps (Smit et al, 2014). Unlike other groups of parasites, isopods have a large body (~ 10 to 50 mm) These parasites have morphological characteristics specific to parasitic life, such as buccal appendages with setae similar to the robust curved terminal and subterminal spines that serve to attach the parasite to the host tissue as well, and nails modified into powerful claws to attach to the host (Brusca et al, 2001). The host specificity in those parasites varies according to the genus and may be high (e.g. genera Cymothoa and Mothocya) or low (e.g. genera Braga and Nerocila) (Brusca et al, 2001; Tavares-Dias et al, 2014)
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