Jl. Luque, POPULATION-DYNAMICS AND COMMUNITY STRUCTU RE OF METAZOAN PARASITES OFMENTICIRRHUS-OPHICEPHALUS (PISCES, SCIAENIDAE) OF THE PERUVIAN COAST, Revista de biologia tropical, 42(1-2), 1994, pp. 21-29
In 1988, a study of 237 specimens of the fish Menticirrhus ophicephalu
s (Pisces: Sciaenidae) from the central Peruvian coast, identified two
trematode, three monogenean, one nematode, four copepod and one isopo
d parasites. The parasite community has two core, three secondary and
six satellite species. These showed the characteristic overdispersed d
istribution, excepting Neobrachiella menticirrhi (uniform distribution
). Infrapopulation size increased with host size for Rhamnocercoides m
enticirrhi, Cynoscionicola americana, Ascarophis sp., Bomolochus perue
nsis and Lernanthropus huamani. The aspidobothriid Lobatostoma veranoi
had an opposite pattern. Rhamnocercoides menticirrhi, H. menticirrhi,
C. americana, Ascarophis sp. and Clavellotis dilatata preferred femal
e hosts, while Lobatostoma veranoi showed a higher prevalence in male
hosts. The prevalence or intensity of the following species showed sea
sonal variation: Rhamnocercoides menticirrhi, C. americana, B. peruens
is and C. dilatata (higher in summer and fall), and L. veranoi and H.
fasciata (higher in winter and spring). The monogenean R. menticirrhi
preferred the second branchial pair and the copepod L. huamani the fir
st pair. Similar to other marine sciaenid fishes studied from Peru, th
e parasite community of M. ophicephalus is dominated by ectoparasite a
nd satellite species, and is characterized by the absence of larval st
ages of parasites common in the marine ecosystem. Infracommunity compo
nent number and intensity of the parasitism were also similar to those
in other marine sciaenids.