ABSTRACT
The Atlantic anchoveta, Cetengraulis edentulus (Cuvier, 1829) is one of the most commercially important fish species in the littoral of Brazil. The present study evaluates the parasitic fauna of this engraulid fish from the southeastern Brazilian coast. Between October 2019 and March 2020, a total of 100 specimens of C. edentulus from the Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (22°57’44”S; 43°52’28”W), were examined. Eighty-five specimens of C. edentulus were parasitized by at least one species of metazoan, with a mean of 4.32 ± 6.12 parasites/fish. Eleven species of parasites were collected: five digeneans, two monogeneans, two copepods, one isopod and one nematode. The nematode Hysterothylacium sp. was the most abundant and dominant species, representing 51.85% of the metazoan parasites collected, showing positive correlation with the host’s total length and parasite abundance and prevalence. The mean abundance and prevalence of Hysterothylacium sp. was significantly higher in female hosts. One pair of larval endoparasites showed positive covariation. Centengraulis edentulus represents a new host record for nine species of parasites. A dominance of endoparasitic larval stages is documented in the parasite community of C. edentulus. This may be a function of the feeding habits of engraulid fish, which feed mainly on zooplanktonic organisms. It may also have to do with to the fact that C. edentulus is the intermediate and/or paratenic host of fish parasites, birds, and marine mammals.
KEY WORDS:
Clupeiformes; engraulids; helminths; infracommunity; marine fish; parasitic crustaceans; structure of community