ENDOFAUNA OF HELMINTH PARASITES OF FISH IN THE AMAZONIC BASIN

The Amazonian parasite biodiversity is underestimated due to the high fish diversity and a high degree of endemism, which favor the megadiversity of helminth fauna in the region. Thus, the present study investigated the helminth endofauna of 13 fish species from the upper Jurua River, state of Acre, in southwestern Amazon, Brazil. The fish were caught in the Jurua, Croa, Parana, and Moa rivers and the helminths were analyzed according to specialized literature. We found a total of 919 helminths distributed in 25 species, with nine species of Nematoda, eight of Cestoda, six of Digenea, and two Acanthocephalus. Among the helminth species, Procamallanus (S.) inopinatus was the most predominant and had the highest intensity of infestation and abundance. New records of fish hosting helminths were found for Cichla nigromaculata parasitized by Procamallanus (S.) inopinatus, Chaetobranchus favescens hosting Cosmoxynemoides agurei, Curimatella meyeri hosting Cosmoxynema vianai, Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum hosting Goezeella sp., all endofauna of Heros severus, Leporinus jamesi hosting Gibsoniela sp., Myloplus rubripinnis hosting Digenea Auriculostoma sp., and Opsodoras morei hosting Acanthocephalus Sharpilosentis peruviensis. Thus, the present study increased the records of these parasites in the Brazilian Amazon, suggesting that this area has high potential for future studies.