Parasite assemblages as indicators of stability in stock structure of Cynoscion guatucupa (Sciaenidae) after a quarter of century of exploitation in a marine warming hotspot

LANFRANCHI, ANA L.; CANEL, DELFINA; ALARCOS, ANA J.; LEVY, EUGENIA; BRAICOVICH, PAOLA E.; MARCOTEGUI, PAULA; TIMI, JUAN T.

REVIEWS IN FISH BIOLOGY AND FISHERIES

SPRINGER

Año: 2024

0960-3166

Climate change is impacting marine spe-cies, leading to shifts in their distribution to higher latitudes and to deeper locations. Parasite commu-nities are dynamic systems infuenced by biotic and abiotic factors, making them valuable tools for study-ing ecological processes of their hosts. This work aims to assess possible changes in parasite structure that occurred in the northern stock of Cynoscion guatucupa in the Argentine Sea, over approximately 25 years, by using parasites as tags in a region char-acterized as a hotspot of signifcant warming in recent decades. Parasite assemblages of adult and juve-nile fsh from two periods caught at two regions of the Argentine Sea were analyzed. Species richness remained relatively constant across samples, although four of the eight compared species from juvenile fsh showed signifcant increases in prevalence, while for adults three species decreased. Diferences in parasite assemblages were signifcant between periods, but not between regions, indicating that the stock struc-ture has apparently remained stable in recent years, even under a warming process that, in turn, seems to have afected its parasite assemblages which how-ever, continue showing homogeneous parasitological attributes throughout the habitats. Most results indi-cate that changes in parasite burdens are not related to the population density or geographic distribution of C. guatucupa, but to changes in temperature, salin-ity or in the density of top predators. Parasites seem to have felt the impact of global change before their host, thus, they can be considered early sentinels to monitor the stability and distribution of this impor-tant resource.