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Transmission of Corynosoma australe (Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae) from fishes to South American sea lions Otaria flavescens in Patagonia, Argentina

  • Fish Parasitology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Acanthocephalans display a two-host life cycle that involves arthropods as intermediate hosts and vertebrates as definitive hosts. Some species also use paratenic hosts to bridge the trophic gap between both obligatory hosts. However, the relative role of these paratenic hosts in the transmission to definitive hosts has seldom been assessed quantitatively. We report on infection patterns of cystacanths of Corynosoma australe Johnston, 1937 in 20 common teleost species and the Argentine shortfin squid Illex argentinus (Castellanos) from the Patagonian shelf of Argentina. We also explore the role of different fish species in the transmission of C. australe to the most important definitive host in the area, i.e. the South American sea lion Otaria flavescens Shaw. Cystacanths of C. australe were found in all host species except Heliconus lahillei Norman, Merluccius hubbsi Marini and I. argentinus. In eight fish species, the prevalence of C. australe was > 50% and mean intensity > 4, i.e. Acanthistius patachonicus (Jenyns), Nemadactylus bergi (Norman), Paralichthys isosceles Jordan, Percophis brasiliensis Quoy & Gaimard, Prionotus nudigula Ginsburg, Scomber colias Gmelin, Raneya brasiliensis (Kaup) and Xystreurys rasile (Jordan). Two surveys on the trophic ecology of South American sea lions in the study area consistently found a generalist diet dominated by M. hubbsi, and data on the frequency of occurrence and number of other fish and cephalopod species in stomach contents strongly suggest that only R. brasiliensis may play a prominent role in the transmission of C. australe. This result raises interesting questions on the costs of paratenicity.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Barbara Berón-Vera, Marina Aversa and Soledad Leonardi for their technical assistance. We specially thank to Prefectura Naval Argentina and ALPESCA S.A. for allowing us to collect our material on the hake trawlers. Institutional support was given by the Centro Nacional Patagónico (CONICET, Argentina).

Funding

This study was supported by projects BBVA Project No. BIOCON 04, CGL2012-39545 from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Spain, PROMETEOII/2015/018 of the Valencian Government, Spain, and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (Project No. 0925516).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación Aplicada y Transferencia Tecnológica en Recursos Marinos Almirante Storni (CIMAS – CCT CONICET – CENPAT), San Antonio Oeste, Río Negro, Argentina

    Jesús S. Hernández-Orts

  2. Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Parque Científico, Universidad de Valencia, Paterna, Valencia, Spain

    Francisco E. Montero, Juan A. Raga & Francisco J. Aznar

  3. Laboratorio de Mamíferos Marinos, Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR – CCT CONICET – CENPAT), Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina

    Néstor A. García & Enrique A. Crespo

  4. Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico

    Martín García-Varela

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  1. Jesús S. Hernández-Orts
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  2. Francisco E. Montero
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  3. Néstor A. García
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  4. Enrique A. Crespo
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  5. Juan A. Raga
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  6. Martín García-Varela
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  7. Francisco J. Aznar
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Correspondence to Jesús S. Hernández-Orts.

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All applicable institutional, national and international guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. Fish were collected under the collecting permit No. 24/06 and 23/07 issued by the Dirección de fauna y flora Silvestre, Gobierno del Chubut, Argentina, to EAC.

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Hernández-Orts, J.S., Montero, F.E., García, N.A. et al. Transmission of Corynosoma australe (Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae) from fishes to South American sea lions Otaria flavescens in Patagonia, Argentina. Parasitol Res 118, 433–440 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-6177-z

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