NEW RECORDS OF PARASITIC COPEPODS (CRUSTACEA: COPEPODA) FROM MARINE FISHES IN THE ARGENTINEAN SEA

CANTATORE, DELFINA; BRAICOVICH, PAOLA E.; ALARCOS, ANA J.; LANFRANCHI, ANA L.; ROSSIN, MARÍA A.; TIMI, JUAN T.

Viña del Mar

Simposio; VII International Symposium of Fish Parasites; 2011

Global climate change is impacting the ecology and biogeography of marine fish populations. Some species and populations could be lost if they are unable to adapt to the new conditions or relocate to adequate habitats, while others may flourish and expand their ranges. Due to the dependence of parasitic copepods to their hosts, geographical shifts in their distribution can reinforce the utility of the detection of changes in fish distributions as indicators of global climate change. Therefore we consider necessary to increase the knowledge of the biodiversity of parasitic copepods in the Argentinean Sea that could be used as baseline information to detect future changes in the distribution of the marine biota driven by the global change. We provide new information on the distribution of 13 known species of parasitic copepods gathered by the authors in 11 species of marine fishes from Argentina, including 7 new host records and 9 new locality records. These species are: Bomolochus globiceps (Vervoort & Ramirez) and Nothobomolochus cresseyi Timi & Sardella (Bomolochidae); Brasilochondria riograndensis Thatcher & Pereira (Chondracanthidae); Taeniacanthus lagocephali Pearse (Taeniacanthidae); Caligus rogercresseyi Boxshall & Bravo and Metacaligus uruguayensis (Thomsen) (Caligidae); Hatschekia conifera Yamaguti (Hatschekiidae); Clavellotis pagri (Kroyer), Clavella adunca (Strom), Clavella bowmani Kabata and Parabrachiella amphipacifica Ho (Lernaeopodidae), and Lernanthropus leidyi Wilson and Lernanthropus caudatus Wilson (Lernanthropidae). A list of host species lacking parasitic copepods, for which large samples were investigated by the authors, is also provided in order to compare in future surveys in a scenario where the outbreak of parasitic diseases could occur.