The structuring process of the macroparasite community of an experimental population of cichlasoma urophthalmus through time
The structuring process of the macroparasite community of caged Cichlasoma urophthalmus was studied over time using sentinel fish. Three thousand uninfected cichlids were stocked in floating cages introduced into a quarry in which a wild population of the same species was present. Caged and wild cichlids were sampled monthly over 6 and 7 months, respectively. Seventeen macroparasite species were found in the wild C. urophthalmus population, ten of which were detected in the caged population after 6 months. Early infections were by those species that were more frequent and abundant in the wild population, while helminths with a low prevalence and abundance in the wild appeared later in the caged fish population. The results suggested that the structuring process of the macroparasite community of caged C. urophthalmus followed a predictable pattern, in which those species that were most frequent and abundant in the wild were the first to establish in sentinel fish.
Vidal-Martinez
VM
Laboratory of Parasitology, Centre of Investigation and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (CINVESTAV-IPN Unidad Merida), Antigua Carr. a Progreso km 6 Cordemex Apdo. Postal 97310, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico:
Kennedy
CR
Aguirre-Macedo
ML