Richness and similarity of helminth communities of the freshwater fish Profundulus punctatus (Pisces: Cyprinodontidae) from Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract

The helminth parasite fauna of Profundulus punctatus in 7 localities from Oaxaca State, Mexico, was studied.A total of 132 fish were analyzed. Fourteen helminth taxa were recorded, including 9 digeneans (Paracreptotremablancoi, Paracreptotrema profundulusi, Phyllodistomum sp., Culuwiya cf. cichlidorum, Clinostomum sp.,Diplostomidae gen. sp., Posthodiplostomum minimum, Ascocotyle (Ascocotyle) felippei and Centrocestus formosanus),2 monogeneans (Gyrodactylus sp. and Salsuginus sp.), and 3 nematodes (Spinitectus humbertoi, Rhabdochona salgadoi,and Eustrongylides sp.). Helminth parasite communities showed low values of richness (14 species) and diversity(Shannon–Wiener and Brillouin indices ranged between 0.359 to 2.083 and 0.358 to 2.042 bits/ind.) in the 7 localities,and some were dominated by 3 helminth species (Ascocotyle (Ascocotyle) felippei, Centrocestus formosanus, andRhabdochona salgadoi). With the current data, we concluded that P. punctatus is parasitized by a particular groupof helminth species (e. g., Paracreptotrema blancoi, Paracreptotrema profundulusi, Spinitectus humbertoi, andRhabdochona salgadoi) exclusive to this fish family that are not shared with other Central American fish species.