Data from: Metazoan parasites of African annual killifish (Nothobranchiidae): abundance, diversity and their environmental correlates

Parasites are an essential ecological group in all communities, with considerable functional roles. Parasite richness and specificity impact the estimates of biodiversity and its global patterns. Despite this, parasite communities are largely neglected, especially in the tropics. We studied parasites of annual killifish of the genus Nothobranchius that inhabit annually desiccating pools across the African savannah and survive the dry period as developmentally arrested embryos. Their discontinuous, non-overlapping generations make for unique predictions regarding their natural parasite fauna that has not been documented to date. We investigated the relationship between global (climate, altitude) and local (pool size, vegetation, host density and diversity, diversity of potential intermediate hosts) environmental factors and killifish parasite community structure. We examined metazoan parasites from 21 populations of four host species (Nothobranchius orthonotus, N. furzeri, N. kadleci, N. pienaari) across a gradient of aridity in Mozambique. Seventeen parasite taxa were recorded, with trematode larval stages (metacercariae) being the most abundant taxa. The parasites recorded were both allogenic (i.e. life cycle includes non-aquatic host; predominantly trematodes) and autogenic (i.e. cycling only in aquatic hosts; nematodes). Parasite abundance was highest in climatic regions with intermediate aridity, while parasite diversity was associated with local environmental characteristics and positively correlated with fish species diversity and amount of aquatic vegetation. Our results suggest that parasite communities of sympatric Nothobranchius species are similar and dominated by larval stages of generalist parasites. Nothobranchius therefore serve as important intermediate or paratenic hosts of parasites, with piscivorous birds and predatory fish being their most likely definitive hosts.