Abstract
Notothen fishes (Nototheniidae) have been recorded on the coasts of South America, from 35°S to southern. Little is known about the biology of intertidal notothen fishes or their relationships with other species, including parasites. Here, we analyzed the parasitic fauna of a species of Notothenia collected from the rocky intertidal of Lebu, south-central Chile (36°S) and compared the parasite community of this host with other 9 fish species commonly found in rocky intertidal pools. Among the tested species, Notothenia sp. had the highest parasite richness (21 parasitic taxa vs. 1 to 9 parasitic taxa). The composition of parasite species was different among fishes, with similarity indices between 0 and 33%. The parasite composition of Notothenia sp. was most similar to Calliclinus geniguttatus (27%). The most abundant and prevalent parasites found in Notothenia sp. were the copepod Caligus cf. cheilodactyli, Tetraphyllidea larvae, anisakid nematodes, and several acanthocephalan species, which are typical of other fish from the subtidal and bento-demersal zones. Therefore, we conclude that the juveniles of Notothenia sp. were a few months old and had their parasites when reaching the intertidal zone, acquired some generalist parasites during their stay in this habitat, such as Holobomolochus chilensis and Lecithaster macrocotyle. Most notothen fishes are from Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic waters, therefore, it is possible that this fish came from another habitat but also from the austral region of South America. Notothenia sp. could not be specifically identified because of different results between morphological and genetic analyses.
Highlights
The great species diversity in intertidal zones has attracted scientific interest for many years, which has been focused on establishing and describing the interspecific relationships that are formed there
IDENTIFICATION OF THE NOTOTHEN FISH The identification of Notothenia sp. from the intertidal of the central-south of Chile remains unclear
Notothenia sp. has a morphological affinity with Notothenia angustata. The latter has been considered as Paranotothenia due to the distribution of its hypural bones
Summary
The great species diversity in intertidal zones has attracted scientific interest for many years, which has been focused on establishing and describing the interspecific relationships that are formed there. In Chile, several studies have dealt with the relations of competition or coexistence among species (e.g., Shinen & Navarrete 2010, Aguilera et al 2013), between predators and prey (e.g., Quijada & Cáceres 2000, Berrios & Vargas 2004) and relationships between parasites and hosts (e.g., Muñoz & Cortés 2009, Soto et al 2016) All these studies agree that intertidal systems are diverse and highly complex in their organization. Temporal fish live in that zone for a short period and can be associated with a certain ontogenetic stage (juveniles or adults), including Clupeidae, Kyphosidae, and Nototheniidae species (Pequeño & Lamilla 1995) Both resident and temporal fish groups are present along the Chilean coast, the abundances of the species vary considerably among geographical areas (Navarrete et al 2014)
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