Larval helminths parasitizing freshwater fishes from the Atlantic coast ofNicaragua

During a survey of the parasitic helminths of 8 fish species from the South Atlantic Autonomous Region, Nicaragua, 23 helminth species were collected. Sixteen of them were digenean species in metacercarial stage: Apharyngostr igea sp., Ascocotyle (Ascocotyle) tennicollis, Ascocotyle (Phagicola) molli enisicola, Ascocotyle (Phagicola) diminuta, Ascocotyle (Phagicola) nana, Cl adocystis trifolium, Clinostomum complanatum, Clinostomum sp., Cryptogonimi dae gen. sp., Diplostomum compactum, Heterophyidae gen. sp., Oligogonotylus manteri, Posthodiplostomum minimum, Proterodiplostomidae gen. sp., Stunkar diella minima, and Uvulifer sp.; 1 was a cestode larva: Proteocephalidea ge n. sp.; and 6 were larval nematodes: Brevimulticaecum sp., Contracaecum sp. type II, Eustrongylides sp., Falcaustra sp., Serpinema trispinosum, and Sp iroxys sp. With the exception of O. manteri, this is the first reported occ urrence of these helminth species in Nicaragua. The larval helminth fauna i n freshwater fishes from Nicaragua closely resembles that of freshwater fis hes from southeastern Mexico.