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Helminths of the Antarctic dragonfish, Parachaenichthys charcoti (Perciformes, Notothenioidei, Bathydraconidae) Studied near Galindez Island (Argentine Islands, West Antarctica)

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Abstract

Purpose

The Antarctic dragonfish, Parachaenichthys charcoti is a notothenioid teleost fish endemic to the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. It is a relatively rare fish species; therefore, published data on the parasite communities of P. charcoti are limited. The present study was performed on the Ukrainian Antarctic Station "Akademik Vernadsky", Argentine Islands, West Antarctica and the purpose was to examine the species diversity of the parasites of P. charcoti and to identify the parameters of helminth infection and helminth component community.

Methods

Fifteen specimens of P. charcoti were caught at a depth of 10–30 m and examined using standard parasitological techniques. All helminths (6251 specimens) were collected manually, fixed in 70% ethanol and identified based on their morphology.

Results

All examined specimens of P. charcoti were found to be infected with helminths; each fish harboured 10–20 helminth species (mean 13.2; median 13) and 237–804 helminth specimens (mean 417; median 401). Twenty-seven helminth species were found, including nine species of trematodes, 4 of cestodes, 4 of nematodes and 10 of acanthocephalans. P. charcoti is the definitive host for 11 out of 27 helminth species recorded. In the helminth component community, the diversity indices were 2.03 (Shannon's index) and 0.79 (Simpson's index); Pielou evenness index was 0.61, and Berger–Parker dominance index was 0.38.

Conclusions

Our results indicate a high species diversity and complex structure of the helminth community in Antarctic dragonfish P. charcoti in the Argentine Islands.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Prof. Terry R. Spraker from the Colorado State University for his valuable comments and corrections to the manuscript. This study was partially supported by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine (Project Number 2020.02/0074) and by the National Antarctic Scientific Center, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (Project Number H/12-2020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine, 15, Bogdan Khmelnytsky Street, Kyiv, 01030, Ukraine

    Tetiana A. Kuzmina, Olga I. Lisitsyna & Yuriy I. Kuzmin

  2. State Institution National Antarctic Scientific Center, Tarasa Shevchenko Blvd, 16, Kyiv, 01601, Ukraine

    Tetiana A. Kuzmina & Oleksander O. Salganskij

  3. Department of Zoology, Lviv National University, 4, Grushevsky Street, Lviv, 79005, Ukraine

    Ihor V. Dykyy

  4. National Museum of Natural History NAS of Ukraine, 15, Bogdan Khmelnytsky Street, Kyiv, 01030, Ukraine

    Eleonora M. Korol

  5. Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Parasitology, Branišovská 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic

    Anna Faltýnková

  6. African Amphibian Conservation Research Group, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

    Yuriy I. Kuzmin

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Kuzmina, T.A., Salganskij, O.O., Dykyy, I.V. et al. Helminths of the Antarctic dragonfish, Parachaenichthys charcoti (Perciformes, Notothenioidei, Bathydraconidae) Studied near Galindez Island (Argentine Islands, West Antarctica). Acta Parasit. 66, 1424–1430 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11686-021-00417-0

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