CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Zoogonids are common and widespread digenean parasites of mainly marine fishes. They parasitize gastrointestinal tract, gall and swim bladder, and bile ducts of teleosts and some elasmobranchs. Over a three-year period, a survey was carried out to increase the knowledge of parasites of fishes in brackish waters of Argentina. We found adult specimens of Diphterostomum brusinae parasitizing the intestine of juveniles of the whitemouth croaker, Micropogonias furnieri, in Bahía Blanca estuary (N=142) and in Samborombón Bay (N=265) (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). Prevalence (P) and mean intensity (mI) were higher in the first site (P = 18.3 % vs. 14.7 %; mI = 18.9 vs. 6.7). Measurements and morphology of specimens perfectly fits with the description made for D. brusinae. Adults typically have a densely spiny tegument, two small and sacular intestinal caeca and a well-developed ventral sucker with two pairs of muscular lips. In a previous work, we have also found larval stages (sporocysts, cercariae and metacercariae) parasitizing the snail Buccinanops globulosus (Nassariidae) in Samborombón Bay. They are similar to those described for D. brusinae. In this work we record for the first time D. brusinae in M. furnieri and we also propose the life cycle of this species in Samborombon Bay, Argentina.