Haliotrema aurigae (Yamaguti, 1968) Plaisance, Bouamer & Morand, 2004, in ornamental reef fish imported into Brazil

Abstract More than 1.450 marine fish species are commercialized as ornamental fish and approximately 90% of these are wild-caught. Rainford's butterflyfish, Chaetodon rainfordi (McCulloch, 1923), is endemic to the western Pacific. This fish species belongs to one of the main ornamental fish families imported into Brazil. Haliotrema is a genus of the family Dactylogyridae. Species of this genus have very interesting host associations and geographic distributions. The aim of this study was to report on occurrences of exotic Haliotrema aurigae in diseased Rainford butterflyfish that were imported to Brazil. One Rainford’s butterflyfish with suspected parasitic disease was euthanized and subjected to skin and gill scraping. The parasite specimens were mounted on semi-permanent slides with Hoyer’s solution for morphological analysis of sclerotized structures. The hard-sclerotized structures of these specimens were compared and were identified as those of Haliotrema aurigae (Yamaguti, 1968). These results emphasize the importance of implementation of correct control measures at the country’s borders, to avoid the introduction of exotic parasites. In addition, it can be emphasized that the easy adaptation of this parasite to new environments is a concern for ornamental fish farmers.

摘要：超过1450种海水鱼类以观赏鱼身份进行商业化流通，其中约90%为野生捕捞个体。雷恩福蝴蝶鱼（Rainford's butterflyfish，学名*Chaetodon rainfordi*，McCulloch, 1923）为西太平洋特有物种，是进口至巴西的核心观赏鱼类类群之一。海盘虫属（*Haliotrema*）隶属于指环虫科（Dactylogyridae），该属物种具有颇具研究价值的宿主关联特征与地理分布格局。本研究旨在报告进口至巴西的患病雷恩福蝴蝶鱼体内检出外来物种海盘虫（*Haliotrema aurigae*）的病例。研究人员对1尾疑似感染寄生虫病的雷恩福蝴蝶鱼实施安乐死，随后开展皮肤刮片与鳃组织取样工作。寄生虫标本采用霍伊尔封固剂（Hoyer's solution）制作半永久玻片，用于其硬化结构的形态学分析。通过比对标本的硬化结构，将其鉴定为海盘虫（*Haliotrema aurigae*, Yamaguti, 1968）。本研究结果凸显了在国家边境实施规范检疫防控措施、杜绝外来寄生虫传入的重要性。此外，该寄生虫对新环境的强适应能力，也为观赏鱼养殖业敲响了安全警钟。