Description and prevalence of Thynnascaris sp. larvae Dollfus, 1933 (Nematoda: Anisakidae) in Plagioscion squamosissimus Heckel, 1840 from Volta Grande Reservoir, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

The present work studied helminth parasites of freshwater "corvina" Plagioscion squamosissimus from Volta Grande Reservoir, MG, Brazil. Sixty eight fishes with averages of 25.2 cm length and 180.9 g weight were collected with net, bimonthly from December 1995 thru December 1996. Parasites were carefully removed from their cysts that were present in the intestinal mesentery. Specimens were fixed in AFA 65 degrees C and preserved in alcohol 70% with 5% of glicerine. In camera lucida 21 nematodes were drawned after clarification with acetic acid or Amann lactophenol. Nematode larvae were identified as Thynnascaris sp. (Nematoda: Anisakidae). From examined fishes 30 out of 68 presented nematode larvae with a prevalence of 44.1%. The average number of parasites per host was 0.0 to 13.8 and mean intensity of 0.0 to 16.0. Statistical analysis according to Fisher's Exact Test showed that these infections were dependent on the pluviosity and air temperature.