Folia Parasitologica 72:012 (2025) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2025.012

Parasite communities of the gafftopsail pompano Trachinotus rhodopus (Carangiformes: Carangidae): examining the parasite species richness and diversity over time

Shirley S. Salas-Villalobos ORCID...1, Juan Violante-González ORCID...1, 2*, Edgar F. Mendoza-Franco ORCID...4, Scott Monks ORCID...3, Agustín A. Rojas-Herrera ORCID...2, Pedro Flores-Rodríguez ORCID...2, José Luis Rosas-Acevedo ORCID...1, Yesenia Gallegos-Navarro ORCID...2, Apolinar Santamaria-Miranda ORCID...5
1 Centro de Ciencias de Desarrollo Regional, Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico;
2 Facultad de Ecología Marina, Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico;
3 Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico;
4 Instituto de Ecología, Pesquerías y Oceanografía del Golfo de México (EPOMEX), Universidad Autónoma de Campeche (UAC), Mexico;
5 Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional Unidad Sinaloa, Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico

In total 949 specimens of Trachinotus rhodopus (Gill) were collected over a 11-year period (from June 2013 to February 2024) from Acapulco Bay, Mexico. Parasite communities in T. rhodopus were quantified and analysed to explore two hypotheses related to their parasite species richness and diversity associated with the bentho-demersal and pelagic habits, and effects of the climatic fluctuations. Thirty-two metazoan parasite taxa/species were identified: three species of 'Monogenea', 14 Digenea, one Aspidogastrea, one Acanthocephala, two Cestoda, three Nematoda and eight Crustacea. The digeneans and copepods were the best represented groups. The component parasite communities were characterised by the numerical dominance of the acanthocephalan Rhadinorhynchus sp. Species richness (15-24 species) was similar to that reported for other species of carangid fish, but the richness of the digeneans was significantly higher. The parasite communities of T. rhodopus exhibited high variability in species composition, suggesting that each species of parasite may respond differently to environmental changes. However, the species richness and diversity were fairly stable over time. Climatic events of La Niña and El Niño probably generated notable changes in the structure of local food webs, thus indirectly influencing the transmission rates of several endoparasite species.

Keywords: Long-term studies, marine parasites, biotic and abiotic factors, determinants of species richness, tropical Pacific, Mexico

Received: August 30, 2024; Revised: December 16, 2024; Accepted: February 12, 2025; Published online: April 7, 2025  Show citation

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Salas-Villalobos, S.S., Violante-González, J., Mendoza-Franco, E.F., Monks, S., Rojas-Herrera, A.A., Flores-Rodríguez, P., ... Santamaria-Miranda, A. (2025). Parasite communities of the gafftopsail pompano Trachinotus rhodopus (Carangiformes: Carangidae): examining the parasite species richness and diversity over time. Folia Parasitologica, 72, Article 2025.012. https://doi.org/10.14411/fp.2025.012
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