Metazoan parasites of Micropterus salmoides (Lacépède 1802) (Perciformes, Centrarchidae): a review with evidences of spillover and spillback.

Abstract

Among the topics related to invasionscience, the least studied are parasite co-introduction and spillback. This leads to an uncertainty in invasion ecology theories and applications to management. Therefore, the present study brings a systematic review of published information on the metazoan parasite fauna of Micropterus salmoides, a widely introduced fish, with the aim of comparing information about the composition and richness of the associated parasite communities in its native and introduced regions. This review demonstrates that there were twice as many studies of M. salmoides in its native region in comparison with introduced regions, although most of the studies focused on the analysis of a single species or taxon of parasite. This bias impacts the number of parasite species observed and, consequently, the apparent importance of enemy release in introduced regions. The composition of the parasite community in the two regions showed high similarity, which indicates the introduction and acquisition of parasites in introduced regions. Otherwise, there was no pattern related to the geographic distance, highlighting the influence of the propagule pressure and vector strength on the introduction of novel parasites. This illustrates the importance of vector strength on fish-parasite co-introduction and the necessity of new research examining host-parasite interactions with the parasite community of the invaded ecosystems. We still do not know the major influences of the composition of the parasite fauna of M. salmoides or how we can manage to develop a more restrictive vector pathway of introduction. The future of our ecosystems depends on how to account for current and future interactions among novel interactions, habitat, and climate change.