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A new species of Philometra Costa, 1845 (Nematoda: Philometridae) from the freshwater fish (red piranha) Pygocentrus nattereri Kner (Characidae) in Amazonia, Brazil

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Abstract

A new nematode species, Philometra nattereri n. sp. (Philometridae), is described from female specimens found in the oculo-orbits and nasal cavity of the red piranha Pygocentrus nattereri Kner (Characiformes: Characidae) from five lakes in Central Amazonia, Brazil, collected in 2008 and 2009 (overall prevalence 12%, intensity 1–3 nematodes per fish). Based on light and scanning electron microscopical examination, the new species differs from most other congeners parasitising freshwater fishes in that its oesophageal gland extends anteriorly far anterior to the level of the nerve-ring, in the presence of 14 small cephalic papillae arranged in two circles and in having two minute caudal projections. This is the first species of Philometra Costa, 1845 reported from fishes of the family Characidae and the second valid species of this genus parasitic in freshwater fishes of Brazil and South America.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to FINEP, PETROBRAS, PIATAM project (Projeto Inteligência Socioambiental Estratégica da Indústria do Petróleo na Amazônia), FAPEAM (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas), INPA/MCT, FAPERJ (Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro), CNPq. Thanks are due to: José C. O. Malta, head of the Laboratório de Parasitologia e Patalogia de Peixes, INPA, Manaus, Brazil; Aleksandra Oliveira-Menezes (Grupo de Sistemática e Biologia Evolutiva, Pólo Barreto – UFRJ, Campus Macaé, Brazil) for valuable suggestions on ultrastructure; and Fernando Adnet (PhD student), Laboratório de Biologia de Helmintos Otto Wucherer, UFRJ, for assistance with the scanning electron microscopy. Blanka Škoríková, Institute of Parasitology, BC ASCR, České Budějovice, is also gratefully acknowledged for her help with the illustrations. This study was partly supported by a Czech Science Foundation grant no. P505/12/G112 and a research project of the Institute of Parasitology, BC ASCR (Z60220518).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Helmintos Parasitos de Peixes, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Av. Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Melissa Q. Cárdenas & Berenice M. M. Fernandes

  2. Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    František Moravec

  3. Laboratório de Parasitologia e Patologia de Peixes, INPA, Av. André Araujo 2936, Aleixo, Manaus, AM, Brazil

    Aprigio Mota Morais

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  1. Melissa Q. Cárdenas
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  2. František Moravec
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  3. Berenice M. M. Fernandes
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  4. Aprigio Mota Morais
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Correspondence to Melissa Q. Cárdenas.

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Cárdenas, M.Q., Moravec, F., Fernandes, B.M.M. et al. A new species of Philometra Costa, 1845 (Nematoda: Philometridae) from the freshwater fish (red piranha) Pygocentrus nattereri Kner (Characidae) in Amazonia, Brazil. Syst Parasitol 83, 137–144 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-012-9377-4

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