Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the microhabitat affinities of Ergasilus sp. and Therodamas longicollum on the gills of Leporinus fasciatus (“aracu-piau”), an anostomid fish from the Amazon. A total of 143 specimens of L. fasciatus were examined, of which 35% had their gills parasitized by at least one ergasilid species. A total of 159 specimens of Ergasilus sp. and 97 specimens of T. longicollum were recovered. Both ergasilids species exhibited a greater affinity for attachment in arch 1 of the gills of the host. There was a negative correlation between the abundance of Ergasilus sp. and the abundance of T. longicollum within each gill arch. Analysis of distribution along the gill arch showed a higher occurrence of Ergasilus sp. in Section 5, while T. longicollum occurred mainly in Section 3 of the gills. There was a positive correlation between the abundance of these ectoparasites and the size of the gill arch. Ergasilus sp. occurred only on the filament of the gill arch and exhibited affinity for the proximal region, while T. longicollum occurred only in the gill arch itself. The results reveal that these two parasite species compete in the gills of the host without the overlapping of their niches.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Mr. João Pena de Oliveira for his assistance in collecting the fish and to the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CNPq, Brazil) and the Coordination Office for Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES, Brazil) for the financial support.
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This study received financial support from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CNPq, Brazil) through a productivity grant to Tavares-Dias, M (#303013/2015–0) and Adriano EA (304687/2020–0), and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES, Brazil) through the granting the doctoral scholarship to Oliveira, MSB (process number 88882.430002/2019–01).
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Ethics approval to obtain access to genetic heritage was authorized by the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment (SISBio no 73550–1 and SisGen no AA4B6BA). This study was developed in accordance with the principles adopted by the Brazilian College of Animal Experimentation (COBEA) and was conducted under authorization from the Ethics Committee for Animal Use of Embrapa (protocol no 014/2018).
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Oliveira, M.S.B., Prestes, L., Adriano, E.A. et al. Morphological and functional structure of two Ergasilidae parasites determine their microhabitat affinity on the gills of an Anostomidae fish from the Amazon. Parasitol Res 121, 2295–2305 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07569-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07569-6