Marine parasites as biological tags in South American Atlantic waters, current status and perspectives

Many marine fisheries in South American Atlantic coasts (SAAC) are threatened by overfishing and under serious risk of collapsing. The SAAC comprises a diversity of environments, possesses a complex oceanography and harbours a vast biodiversity that provide an enormous potential for using parasites as biological tags for fish stock delineation, a prerequisite for the implementation of control and management plans. Here, their use in the SAAC is reviewed. Main evidence is derived from northern Argentine waters, where fish parasite assemblages are dominated by larval helminth species that share a low specificity, long persistence and trophic transmission, parasitizing almost indiscriminately all available fish species. The advantages and constraints of such a combination of characteristics are analysed and recommendations are given for future research. Shifting the focus from fish/parasite populations to communities allows expanding the concept of biological tags from local to regional scales, providing essential information to delineate ecosystem boundaries for host communities. This new concept arose as a powerful tool to help the implementation of ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management, the new paradigm for fisheries science. Holistic approaches, including parasites as biological tags for stock delineation will render valuable information to help insure fisheries and marine ecosystems against further depletion and collapse.Fil: Cantatore, Delfina María Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Timi, Juan Tomas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentin

Descripción y filogenia de una nueva especie de Ceratomyxa thélohan (Ceratomyxidae), parásito de Umbrina canosai Berg (Sciaenidae) en el mar argentino

El pargo blanco, Umbrina canosai Berg 1895, es un esciénido demersal-bentónico que habita aguas costeras del Atlántico Sudoccidental desde Rio de Janeiro, Brasil (22°54′ S) hasta el norte del Golfo San Matías, Argentina (41°30′ S). Esta especie realiza migraciones estacionales presentando un área trófica estival en el Mar Argentino, donde se alimenta principalmente de invertebrados bentónicos, y áreas predominantemente reproductivas y de crianza en aguas brasileras durante los meses de invierno y primavera. La parasitofauna del pargo blanco ha sido muy poco estudiada. En el presente trabajo se describe una nueva especie de Ceratomyxa Thélohan 1892 (Cnidaria, Myxozoa) a partir de mixosporas colectadas de la vesícula biliar de U. canosai provenientes de la pesca comercial desarrollada en la región costera bonaerense.Asociación Parasitológica Argentin

Merizocotyle euzeti sp. N. (Monogenea: Monocotylidae) from the nasal tissue of three deep sea skates (Rajidae) in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

A new species of Merizocotyle Cerfontaine, 1894 (Monogenea: Monocotylidae) is described from the nasal tissues of three deep sea rajid skates: the southern thorny skate, Amblyraja doellojuradoi (Pozzi), broadnose skate, Bathyraja brachyurops (Fowler), and yellownose skate, Zearaja chilensis (Guichenot), collected off Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, southwest Atlantic Ocean. Two additional species of sympatric rajid, the white-dotted skate, Bathyraja albomaculata (Norman), and the Patagonian skate, Bathyraja macloviana (Norman), were also examined but no merizocotylines were found. The taxonomy of the Merizocotylinae is not widely accepted and, as a result, the status of Thaumatocotyle and Mycteronastes, and their proposed synonymy with Merizocotyle are currently under discussion. The new species differs from its congeners by having a unique haptoral structure, 6 peripheral loculi that are asymmetrically arranged (one much smaller, indistinctly located in the left or right side of the haptor). The presence of the new species in three sympatric species of Rajidae belonging to distinct genera and subfamilies, as well as its absence in sympatric congenerics indicates the lack of phylogenetic host specificity. Host ecology and geographical distribution appear to be more important than host phylogeny in determining the distribution of this parasite across potential hosts in the region. This constitutes the first record of Merizocotyle in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean.Fil: Irigoitia, Manuel Marcial. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Cantatore, Delfina María Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Delpiani, Gabriela Elina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Marinas. Laboratorio de Ictiología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Incorvaia, Inés Silvia. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones y Desarrollo Pesquero; ArgentinaFil: Lanfranchi, Ana Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Timi, Juan Tomas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentin

The description of two new species of Chloromyxum from skates in the Argentine Sea reveals that a limited geographic host distribution causes phylogenetic lineage separation of myxozoans in Chondrichthyes

During a survey on the myxosporean fauna of Rajiformes from the Atlantic coast of Argentina, in waters off Buenos Aires Province (34°-42°S; 53°-62°W), the gall bladders of 217 specimens belonging to seven species of skates, representatives of two families, were examined. As a result, three species of Chloromyxum Mingazzini, 1890, namely C. atlantoraji n. sp., C. zearaji n. sp. and C. riorajum Azevedo, Casal, Garcia, Matos, Teles-Grilo and Matos, 2009 were found infecting three endemic host species, the spotback skate Atlantoraja castelnaui (Arhynchobatidae), the yellownose skate Zearaja chilensis (Rajidae) and the Rio skate Rioraja agassizii (Arhynchobatidae), respectively. These species were described based on myxospore morphology and morphometry characterization, as well as by providing their small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) sequences. The SSU rDNA-based phylogenetic analyses showed that these three species constituted a well-established monophyletic subclade within the marine Chloromyxum clade, while branches subtending the other Chloromyxum species were poorly resolved or unresolved, independently of the host taxonomic identities (Carchariniformes, Myliobatiformes, Orectolobiformes, Pristiophoriformes, Rajiformes, Squaliformes and Torpediniformes) and/or host geographic distribution (Atlantic coast of Portugal, Atlantic coast of the USA, Australian waters or Mediterranean Sea). The possible causes of these discrepancies are discussed, providing new insights into the phylogeny of the marine Chloromyxum clade.Fil: Cantatore, Delfina María Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Irigoitia, Manuel Marcial. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Holzer, Astrid Sibylle. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Biology Centre. Institute of Parasitology; República ChecaFil: Bartošová Sojková, Pavla. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Biology Centre. Institute of Parasitology; República ChecaFil: Pecková, Hana. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Biology Centre. Institute of Parasitology; República ChecaFil: Fiala, Ivan. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Biology Centre. Institute of Parasitology; República ChecaFil: Timi, Juan Tomas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas,CCT Mar del Plata,Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras;Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, FCEN, IIMYC; Argentin

Patrones de distribución de dos especies de Corynosoma (Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae) en peces del Atlántico sudoccidental

Corynosoma australe Johnston, 1937 y C. cetaceum Johnston and Best, 1942 son los acantocéfalos más frecuentemente reportados en peces del Mar Argentino. Sus hospedadores definitivos son otáridos y cetáceos respectivamente, aunque también han sido reportados en otros mamíferos, aves e, incluso, en humanos. Los peces, por su parte, actúan como hospedadores intermediarios de los mismos alojando a las larvas cistacantas. Dada su amplia distribución, el género Corynosoma es útil para la determinación de stocks y estudios zoogeográficos.Asociación Parasitológica Argentin

Mechanisms and drivers for the establishment of life cycle complexity in Myxozoan parasites

It is assumed that complex life cycles in cnidarian parasites belonging to the Myxozoa result from incorporation of vertebrates into simple life cycles exploiting aquatic invertebrates. However, nothing is known about the driving forces and implementation of this event, though it fostered massive diversification. We performed a comprehensive search for myxozoans in evolutionary ancient fishes (Chondrichthyes), and more than doubled existing 18S rDNA sequence data, discovering seven independent phylogenetic lineages. We performed cophylogenetic and character mapping methods in the largest monophyletic dataset and demonstrate that host and parasite phylogenies are strongly correlated, and that tectonic changes may explain phylogeographic clustering in recent skates and softnose skates, in the Atlantic. The most basal lineages of myxozoans inhabit the bile of chondrichthyans, an immunologically privileged site and protective niche, easily accessible from the gut via the bile duct. We hypothesize that feed-integration is a likely mechanism of host acquisition, an idea supported by feeding habits of chimaeras and ancient sharks and by multiple entries of different parasite lineages from invertebrates into the new host group. We provide exciting first insights into the early evolutionary history of ancient metazoan parasites in a host group that embodies more evolutionary distinctiveness than most other vertebrates.Fil: Lisnerová, Martina. Czech Academy of Sciences; República ChecaFil: Fiala, Ivan. Czech Academy of Sciences; República ChecaFil: Cantatore, Delfina María Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Irigoitia, Manuel Marcial. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Timi, Juan Tomas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Pecková, Hana. Czech Academy of Sciences; República ChecaFil: Bartoová Sojková, Pavla. Czech Academy of Sciences; República ChecaFil: Sandoval, Christrian M.. Czech Academy of Sciences; República ChecaFil: Luer, Carl. Mote Marine Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Morris, Jack. Mote Marine Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Holzer, Astrid Sybylle. Czech Academy of Sciences; República Chec

Acanthochondria helicoleni sp. nov. (Copepoda: Chondracanthidae) parasitic on Helicolenus lahillei (Scorpaeniformes: Sebastidae) from Argentinean waters

A new species of a parasitic copepod, Acanthochondria helicoleni sp. nov. (Copepoda, Chondracanthidae), is described and illustrated from specimens collected within the branchial chambers of the rubio, Helicolenus lahillei Norman, 1937, from the Argentinean waters. The new species most closely resembles A. serrani Braicovich et Timi, 2009 collected in the same region, but differs in the general measurements and proportions of the body; primarily by the relative length of neck, shape of head, shape and size of genito-abdominal tagma and relative size of the trunk postero-lateral processes.Fil: Cantatore, Delfina María Paula. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Parasitología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Timi, Juan Tomas. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Parasitología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentin

Myxozoans as biological tags for stock identification of the Argentine hake, Merluccius hubbsi (Gadiformes: Merlucciidae)

Myxozoans have been successfully used as tags for fish stock identification around the world. However, few studies using myxozoan tags have been carried out in the Southern Atlantic, a region with complex oceanography that constitutes a potentially suitable scenario for testing the utility of myxozoans as indicators. Its usefulness was tested using six samples of Merluccius hubbsi in two different regions of the Argentine Sea. Generalized linear models were performed to assess the effects of fish size and sex, and year and region of capture and selected using the Information Theoretic approach. Three myxozoan species were recorded: Kudoa rosenbuschi, Myxoproteus meridionalis and Fabespora sp. Results of modelling species individually showed differential capabilities for detecting geographical population structure at different spatial scales, with K. rosenbuschi and Fabespora sp. allowing the discrimination of northern and southern stocks, but Fabespora sp. also as a promissory indicator of intrapopulation sub-structure due to different migratory routes during non-reproductive periods. This work confirms that myxozoans offer a set of suitable markers at different spatial scales, which can be selected individually or in any combination, depending on the geographical extent of the study, constituting tools adaptable to the objectives of further research on fish population structure.Fil: Cantatore, Delfina María Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Irigoitia, Manuel Marcial. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Holzer, Astrid Sybylle. Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences; República ChecaFil: Timi, Juan Tomas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentin

A New Species of Capillostrongyloides (Nematoda: Capillariidae) Parasitizing the Horsefish, Congiopodus peruvianus (Pisces: Congiopodidae), from Argentina

A new species of parasitic nematode, Capillostrongyloides congiopodi n. sp. Capillariidae), is described based on specimens collected from the gall bladder of the horsefish, Congiopodus peruvianus Cuvier and Velenciennes (Congiopodidae, Scorpaeniformes), from the Patagonian Shelf, Argentina (45?48_S; 60?64_W). Among the 9 species described so far in the genus, the new species most closely resembles C. norvegica Moravec and Karlsbakk, 2000, by the presence of its conspicuously elevated anterior vulvar lip in females; however, it is readily distinguished from it by having a larger body size, larger eggs with protruding polar plugs, the shape and length of the spicule, and mainly by the general morphology of the caudal bursa of males. In addition, the site of infection, i.e., stomach versus gall bladder. This is the first Capillostrongyloides species reported from fishes in the southern Atlantic Ocean.Fil: Cantatore, Delfina María Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Parasitología; ArgentinaFil: Rossin, Maria Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Parasitología; ArgentinaFil: Lanfranchi, Ana Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Parasitología; ArgentinaFil: Timi, Juan Tomas. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Parasitología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentin

Parasitic copepods infesting the olfactory sacs of skates from the southwestern Atlantic with the description of a new species of Kroeyerina Wilson, 1932

The olfactory sacs of 488 specimens belonging to 18 species of rajid and arhynchobatid skates from the Argentine Sea were sampled for parasites. No parasitic copepods were found in 11 host species, but siphonostomatoid specimens referable to Kroeyerina Wilson, 1932 (Kroyeriidae) and Brianella corniger Wilson, 1915 (Lernaeopodidae) were found on the spotback skate Atlantoraja castelnaui (Miranda Ribeiro, 1907), the smallnose fanskate Sympterygia bonapartii Müller & Henle, 1841, the bignose fanskate Sympterygia acuta Garman, 1877 and the zipper sand skate Psammobatis extenta (Gar-man, 1913) (Rajiformes: Arhynchobatidae). Additionally, specimens of B. corniger were found in the olfactory sacs of the Rio skate Rioraja agassizii (Müller & Henle, 1841) and attached to the pectoral fins of the Magellan skate Bathyraja magellanica (Philippi, 1902) and the smallthorn sand skate Psammobatis rudis Günther, 1870. A new species, Kroeyerina sudamericana sp. nov., is described and illustrated. The new species most closely resembles Kroeyerina nasuta Wilson, 1932, but can be distinguished from it by the different armature of the antennule, a proportionally shorter genital complex and the chela of the antenna which, when closed, leaves a gap between the corpus and claw, the latter having no spines. The new species represents the first record of Kroeyerina in South American marine waters. The present study also ex-tends the distribution range of B. corniger, previously known only from the Pacific, to include Atlantic waters, and records seven new host species, all of which are members of the Arhynchobatidae.Fil: Irigoitia, Manuel Marcial. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Cantatore, Delfina María Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Incorvaia, Inés Silvia. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones y Desarrollo Pesquero; ArgentinaFil: Timi, Juan Tomas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentin