Influence of host size and sex on the endohelminth infracommunities of thered rockfish Sebastes capensis off northern Chile

The relationship between host size and sex and the abundance, prevalence, s pecies richness, diversity, and total number of parasites in the infracommu nities of Sebastes capensis was analyzed. Nine helminth species were obtain ed from 180 red rockfish captured off Coquimbo Bay, Northern Chile. These i ncluded the digeneans Pseudopecoelus sp., Diphtherostomum sp., Derogenes sp ., Podocotyloides sp., and Lecithochirium sp., the acanthocephalan Corynoso ma sp., and the nematodes Ascarophis sebastodis, Hysterothylacium sp., and Anisakis sp. The abundances of Pseudopecoelus sp. and Anisakis sp. were sig nificantly and positively correlated with the size of S. capensis, while Co rynosoma sp, correlated negatively with host size. Only prevalence of Anisa kis sp. increased with host size. The number of parasite individuals increa sed significantly with size of S. capensis. However, species richness and d iversity of the infracommunities was not affected by host size. These resul ts suggest that red rockfish >18 cm do nor undergo significant ontogenetic changes in their diet. Best sex did not seem to affect abundance and preval ence of infections. The presence of Derogenes sp. and Podocotyloides sp. ar e new records of digeneans for S. capensis.