Abstract

LIRA-GUERRERO, Georgina; GARCIA-PRIETO, Luis  and  PEREZ-PONCE DE LEON, Gerardo. Helminth parasites of atherinopsid freshwater fishes (Osteichthyes: Atheriniformes) from central Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodiv. [online]. 2008, vol.79, n.2, pp.325-331. ISSN 2007-8706.

Between May 1997 and September 1998, 270 atherinopsids belonging to 7 fish species were analyzed for helminths in 6 lakes located in central Mexico. In addition, a database with all the available previous records of helminth parasites of atherinopsids was built. Based on both information sources, we analyze the composition of the helminth fauna parasitizing atherinopsid freshwater fishes from central Mexico, in order to determine some general species compositional patterns. The helminth fauna parasitizing this fish family in central Mexico is composed by 10 digeneans, 13 cestodes, 1 acanthocephalan, and 8 nematodes (24 of them as larval stage). Individual species richness ranged from 1 to 22 helminth species. Feeding habits of the hosts are identified as the main factor in determining helminth species composition (22 of them are acquired through ingestion). Helminth species composition of almost all host species was dominated by generalist helminth species. Only 2 specialist species were found: Allocreadium mexicanum and Spinitectus osorioi, representing the core helminth fauna of this group of fishes. These results corroborate the hypothesis that the parasite fauna in freshwater fishes is largely circumscribed by higher levels of monophyletic host taxa.

Keywords : helminths; atherinopsids; central Mexico; freshwater fishes.

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