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Ergasilus lyraephorus n. sp. (Copepoda: Cyclopoida: Ergasilidae) parasitic on the Longtail Knifefish Sternopygus macrurus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Actinopterygii: Sternopygidae) from Northeast Brazil

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Abstract

The cyclopoid family Ergasilidae Burmeister, 1835, is the most common group of parasitic copepods infesting fish in Brazil, and the type-genus Ergasilus von Nordmann, 1832 comprises the highest number of species. During a survey of freshwater fish in Northeast Brazil, a new species of Ergasilus was found on the gills of the Longtail Knifefish Sternopygus macrurus (Bloch & Schneider) (Actinopterygii: Sternopygidae) in the Viana lake system, State of Maranhão. Ergasilus lyraephorus n. sp. can be distinguished from its closest congeners mainly because it has a lyre-shaped ornamentation on the ventral surface of first pedigerous somite, a feature that has never been reported in the family. In addition, the new species differs from closely related congeners by having a maxillule bearing three elements, by the large spinules on the interpodal plates of legs 1, 2 and 3, and by having leg 5 reduced to a single seta of moderate size. The present study is the first report of an ergasilid parasitizing S. macrurus, as well as the first parasitic copepod found on a host belonging to the family Sternopygidae Cope.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Nivea Fernanda Maria Ferreira Costa, Ingredy Eylanne Monroe Vidigal and Filipe Ribeiro Menks from the Universidade Federal do Maranhão in São Luis for helping with parasitological examination of fish, and Kerly Melo Pereira, Universidade Federal do Maranhão campus Pinheiro, for making available facilities during field collections.

Funding

JVC was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal do Ensino Superior (CAPES) (Financial Code 001), Brazil. FP was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Maranhão (FAPEMA) (84516/2022), Brazil. FBP was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (Universal 404083/2021-8), Brazil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brazil

    João Victor Couto

  2. Laboratório de Organismos Aquáticos, Departamento de Oceanografia e Limnologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Av. dos Portugueses, 1966, Bacanga, São Luís, MA, 65080-805, Brazil

    Jorge Luiz Silva Nunes

  3. Centro de Ciências de Pinheiro, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Campus Pinheiro, Estrada Pinheiro/Pácas Km 10, s/n Enseada, Pinheiro, MA, 65200-000, Brazil

    Getulio Rincon

  4. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade e Conservação, Departamento de Oceanografia e Limnologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Av. dos Portugueses, 1966, Bacanga, São Luís, MA, 65080-805, Brazil

    Fabiano Paschoal

  5. Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Bloco L4 sala 252, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brasil

    Felipe Bisaggio Pereira

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  1. João Victor Couto
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Contributions

JLSN, GR and FP performed field collections and the parasitological survey. JVC, FP and FBP analyzed the copepods, prepared the illustrations and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All reviewed the manuscript and approved the final version. FP and FBP supervised the study.

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Correspondence to Felipe Bisaggio Pereira.

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Couto, J.V., Nunes, J.L.S., Rincon, G. et al. Ergasilus lyraephorus n. sp. (Copepoda: Cyclopoida: Ergasilidae) parasitic on the Longtail Knifefish Sternopygus macrurus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Actinopterygii: Sternopygidae) from Northeast Brazil. Syst Parasitol 101, 6 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-023-10133-0

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