Parasites of ornamental fish commercialized in Macapá, Amapá State (Brazil)

Abstract This study investigated the parasites fauna of four freshwater ornamental fish species in aquarium shops of Macapá, Amapá State, in addition to survey the commercialized fish species and sanitary conditions of aquarium shops. Different native and non-native ornamental fish species were found in aquarium shops, mainly Poecilidae. We examined 30 specimens of Xiphophorus maculatus, 30 Danio rerio, 30 Paracheirodon axelrodi, and 30 Corydoras ephippifer for parasites. Of the 120 fish examined, 22.5% were parasitized by one or more species and a total of 438 parasites were collected and identified. Parasites such as: Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, Monogenea, undermined Digenea metacercariae, Acanthostomum sp. metacercariae, Camallanus spp., Bothriocephalus acheilognathi and Echinorhynchus sp. infected the hosts examined. Endoparasites in the larval stage showed the greatest diversity and Camallanus spp. was found in all hosts species examined. Paracheirodon axelrodi (43.3%) was the most parasitized host, while C. ephippifer (6.7%) was the least parasitized. Despite the low ectoparasites level, six species of endoparasites was observed, demonstrating that prophylactic and quarantine procedures were not fully adequate. Therefore, failures in prophylactic procedures on any link in the production industry of ornamental fish may cause parasite transmission to ornamental fish captured in different environments and localities.

摘要 本研究针对阿马帕州马卡帕市水族馆商店中的四种淡水观赏鱼类的寄生虫区系展开调查，同时对该类商店的在售观赏鱼类种类及卫生状况进行了调研。受访水族馆商店内可见多种本土及外来观赏鱼类，其中以花鳉科（Poecilidae）物种为主。本研究分别采集了30尾花斑剑尾鱼（Xiphophorus maculatus）、30尾斑马鱼（Danio rerio）、30尾红绿灯鱼（Paracheirodon axelrodi）及30尾鞍兵鲶（Corydoras ephippifer）开展寄生虫检测。在所检测的120尾观赏鱼中，22.5%的个体被一种或多种寄生虫感染，共采集并鉴定出438个寄生虫标本。本次检出的寄生虫包括：多子小瓜虫（Ichthyophthirius multifiliis）、单殖吸虫（Monogenea）、未分类复殖吸虫囊蚴、刺口吸虫属（Acanthostomum sp.）囊蚴、驼形线虫属（Camallanus spp.）、肠头槽绦虫（Bothriocephalus acheilognathi）及棘吻虫属（Echinorhynchus sp.）。幼虫期体内寄生虫的物种多样性最高，且驼形线虫属（Camallanus spp.）在所有受试宿主物种中均有检出。红绿灯鱼（Paracheirodon axelrodi）的感染率最高，达43.3%，而鞍兵鲶（Corydoras ephippifer）的感染率最低，仅为6.7%。尽管体外寄生虫的感染水平较低，但本次研究共检出6种体内寄生虫，表明相关观赏鱼的预防性防疫及检疫措施并未完全达标。因此，观赏鱼产业任一环节的预防性防疫措施失效，均可能导致寄生虫传播至不同环境及地域捕获的观赏鱼体内。