Parasite community of Patagonotothen cornucola (Pisces: Nototheniidae) from intertidal rocky pools from Strait of Magellan

Abstract: Notothens are abundant fish in the Austral Ocean, therefore they stablish many interactions with other species, and thus they have become important components in the ecosystem. However, the relationships between these fish and their parasites are poorly understood. The parasite community o...

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Autor principal: Muñoz,Gabriela
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Universidad de Magallanes 2020
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Acceso en línea:http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-686X2020000100037
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Sumario:Abstract: Notothens are abundant fish in the Austral Ocean, therefore they stablish many interactions with other species, and thus they have become important components in the ecosystem. However, the relationships between these fish and their parasites are poorly understood. The parasite community of the intertidal notothen Patagonotothen cornucola has been analyzed in this study considering two sampling sites at the Strait of Magellan and the sex of the fish. The fish samples were collected in January 2017 at Rinconada Bulnes (RB), and San Isidro (SI). A total of 98 fish individuals, with total body length between 4.2 and 13.4 cm, were obtained. Of these fish, 15 parasite species were recorded. Four species were the most prevalent or abundant, three digeneans (Caudotestis kerguelensis, Whitegonimus ozoufae and Genolinea cf. bowersi) and one acantocephalan (Corynosoma beaglense). The similarity of parasite composition based on the abundance of parasites showed significant differences among sites because the fish from SI had only five parasite species and two of them with higher abundances than RB. There were no differences in parasite composition between male and female fish. Therefore, the sampling site was important for composition and abundance of parasites, indicating ecological and environmental differences between sites that affect parasite transmission. This is the first study on the parasite community of a species of Patagonotothen in the Patagonia area, showing a wide diversity of parasite species in this little fish.