Inter-Research > DAO > v116 > n1 > p23-35  
DAO
Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

via Mailchimp

DAO 116:23-35 (2015)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02901

Larval trematodes Paronatrema mantae and Copiatestes sp. parasitize Gulf of California krill (Nyctiphanes simplex, Nematoscelis difficilis)

José Raúl Morales-Ávila1, Jaime Gómez-Gutiérrez1,*, María del Carmen Gómez del Prado-Rosas2, Carlos J. Robinson

1Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Departamento de Plancton y Ecología Marina (CICIMAR), Avenida IPN s/n, La Paz, Baja California Sur 23096, Mexico
2Laboratorio de Parasitología, Departamento Académico de Biología Marina, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, Apdo. Postal 19-B, La Paz, Baja California Sur 23080, Mexico
3Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, DF 04500, Mexico
*Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: During 4 quantitative-systematic oceanographic cruises at 99 sampling stations in the Gulf of California (January and July 2007, August 2012, and June 2013), we found 2 trematode species (non-encysted mesocercaria stage) parasitizing the hemocoel of 2 krill species at near-shore locations. Copiatestes sp. parasitized Nematoscelis difficilis in January 2007, and Paronatrema mantae parasitized Nyctiphanes simplex in July 2007. Both trematode species had an intensity of 1 parasite per host. This is the first endoparasite known for N. difficilis, the first record of P. mantae infecting zooplankton, and the first confirmed trematode parasitizing krill species in the Gulf of California. We provide quantitative evidence that these 2 trematode species infect krill with considerably low station prevalence (0.03-0.16%) and low population abundances (<1.2 trematodes 1000 m-3). A review of trematodes parasitizing krill indicates that syncoeliid trematodes also have (with few exceptions) low population densities and prevalence and lower species diversity than previously thought (suggesting a broader zoogeographic distribution range of these parasites). Due to the low host specificity of syncoeliid trematodes that typically infect more than 1 secondary intermediate host species in their complex life cycle, we propose that N. simplex and N. difficilis are intermediate hosts (although non-conspicuous) for the transmission of syncoeliid trematodes in the Gulf of California.


KEY WORDS: Digenean trematoda · Endoparasite · Mesocercaria · Metacercaria · Syncoeliidae · Paronatrema mantae · Copiatestes · Krill · Gulf of California


Full text in pdf format
Cite this article as: Morales-Ávila JR, Gómez-Gutiérrez J, Gómez del Prado-Rosas MdC, Robinson CJ (2015) Larval trematodes Paronatrema mantae and Copiatestes sp. parasitize Gulf of California krill (Nyctiphanes simplex, Nematoscelis difficilis). Dis Aquat Org 116:23-35. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02901

Export citation
Share:    Facebook - - linkedIn

 Previous article Next article