title: Hematological alterations caused by high intensity of L3 larvae of Contracaecum sp Railliet & Henry, 1912 (Nematoda, Anisakidae) in the stomach of Hoplias malabaricus in lakes in Pirassununga, São Paulo.
abstract: The objective of the present study was to discover the hematological indices of Hoplias malabaricus infected by larvae of Contracaecum sp. A total of 105 fish were collected from two lakes located in the municipal district of Pirassununga, São Paulo, Brazil, of which 95.2% were infested by L3 larvae of Contracaecum sp., with an average intensity of 348.7 ± 231.55 helminths/fish. A total of 76 fish were analyzed to establish hematological parameters. Following analysis, it was found that there was a significant difference between hematological parameters Hct, erythrocytes (Er), thrombocytopenia (p = 0.01), and Hb (p = 0.02) in lakes A and B, while there was no significant difference for leukocyte (p = 0.68), mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (p = 0.06), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (p = 0.47). The intensity of infection correlated negatively with Er (r(s) = -0.42; p < 0.01) and positively for (r(s) = 0.48; p < 0.01). The high intensity of infection by Contracaecum sp. in H. malabaricus did not affect the health of the fish despite causing alterations in hematological variables.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil. lincorre@gmail.com
authors.forename: Lincoln L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Corrêa
authors.forename: Letícia C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Karling
authors.forename: Ricardo M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Takemoto
authors.forename: Paulo S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Ceccarelli
authors.forename: Marlene T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Ueta
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D060125:Characiformes; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D060106:Lakes; D007814:Larva; D009348:Nematoda / Q000145:classification*; D009349:Nematode Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*