Parasites of the Brazilian flathead Percophis brasiliensis reflect West Atlantic biogeographic regions

BRAICOVICH P.E.; PANTOJA C.S.; PEREIRA A.N.; LUQUE J.L.; TIMI J.T.

PARASITOLOGY

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2017 p. 169 - 178

0031-1820

With the aim of evaluating the utility of marine parasites as indicators of zoogeographical regions in the South WestAtlantic, we analyzed data on assemblages of long-lived larval parasites of 488 specimens of Percophis brasiliensis distributedin 11 samples from nine localities covering the entire distribution of the species in the Argentine biogeographicalProvince. Near half a million long-lived parasite individuals belonging to 17 species present in the whole sample displayedclear latitudinal patterns. Data for parasite assemblages at infracommunity and component community levels were analysedin relation to the geographical distance. Significant similarity decay of parasite assemblages over distance wasobserved, with those based on abundances and mean abundances showing departures from predicted values of regressions.These departures were represented by higher dissimilarities between samples coming from different zoogeographicalregions than between those caught within the same region, independently of the distance separating them.Consequently, zoogeographical regions were identified in a distance-decay context. Multivariate analyses corroborateda close fit of similarity between assemblages to existing zoogeographical classifications. Regressions representing distancedecay of similarity, and the identification of their outliers, can therefore shed light on the existence of discontinuities oruniformities in the geographic distribution of parasite assemblages and, in turn, in the zoogeography of their fish hosts.