Seasonality of recruitment and reproduction of Acanthocephalus tumescens (Acanthocephala) in fishes from Lake Moreno (Patagonia, Argentina)

RAUQUE, C., L. SEMENAS, G. VIOZZI

JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY

American Society of Parasitologist

Lugar: Winston Salem; Año: 2006 vol. 92 p. 1265 - 1269

0022-3395

The seasonality of recruitment and reproduction of Acanthocephalus tumescens at the component population level was investigated in Lake Moreno. Seasonal samples of the principal fish host species were taken between the spring of 1999 and the spring of 2000. Prevalence, mean intensity, coefficient of dispersion, sex ratio, proportion of maturity stages of females, and percentages of the 2 sources of infection in the stomach of fishes were calculated. Overall prevalence, mean intensity and coefficient of dispersion showed the same pattern of seasonal changes. The seasonal feeding patterns of fishes affect the occurrence of A. tumescens producing one peak in spring and the other in autumn. The lower temperature in winter delay reproductive processes after the autumn period of recruitment.