Serrasalmus altispinis Merckx, Jégu & Santos, 2000 is an abundant fish species from floodplain lakes in

the Brazilian Amazon. Information concerning to its parasitic fauna is lacking. The present study aimed to

identify the Monogenean species that parasitize their gills. Fifty-nine specimens of S. altispinis were

number of Monogenean species registered in S. altispinis, points out to the importance of this fish species

in maintaining the diversity in Brazilian Amazon floodplain lakes.

Serrasalmus altispinis Merckx, Jégu & Santos, 2000 es una especie de pez abundante en lagos inundables

Anacanthorus jegui Van Every & Kritsky, 1992 fue la especie con mayor prevalencia parasitaria (50,85%)

y Notozothecium deleastoidem Kritsky, Boeger & Jegú, 1998 la especie dominante (20,08%), registrando

también la mayor intensidad de infección (149) y abundancia media (2,51). El alto número de especies de

Monogenea registradas en S. altispinis, resalta la importancia de esta especie de mantener la diversidad en

lagos inundables de la Amazonía brasileña.

Merckx, Jégu & Santos, 2000, commonly known

as “piranha seca” inhabits lakes of white water

Rivers, usually being capture together with S.

rhombeus close to the aquatic vegetation and in the

Between March and December 2013, 59 S.

altispinis were captured in five floodplain lakes of

the Solimões River: Lake Baixio (03°17'27, 2''S/

60°04'29,6''W) in the township of Iranduba, Lake

Preto (03°21'17, 1''S/ 60°37'28,6''W) in

Manacapurú; Lake Ananá (03°53'54,8''S/

61°40'18,4''W) in Anori; Lake Araçá (S03°45'

04,3" S/ 62°21' 25,9" W) in Codajás and Lake

Maracá (03°50'32,8''S/ 62°34'32,4''W) in Coari

species, morphology and ecology (Poulin, 2002).

Monogenean species parasitize the, skin, outer and

inner organs of several aquatic vertebrates, and

they are well known by their high host and

infestation site's specificity (Poulin, 1992).

In the Neotropical region there exist around 300

Monogenean species and Brazil has the largest

number of parasites recorded in Serrasalmidae fish

species (Cohen et al., 2013). Dactylogyridae is the

most diverse taxon on these hosts (Boeger et al.,

Taxonomical studies contribute to the knowledge

of the diversity, not only with the discovery of new

species, but also by registering new occurrences in

new hosts and in new geographical areas (Luque &

hosts of many Monogenean parasites, thus,

contributing directly with the local biodiversity

(Boeger & Kritsky, 1988; Kritsky et al. 1988;

Boeger & Thatcher, 1988; Kritsky et al., 1997).

total number of individuals of species A, B, C …N.

The constancy of occurrence method (Dajoz, 1973)

aided to identify the resident species, by the

followed expression: c = [(p / P) x 100], where p is

index (GI) were used to examine dispersion

patterns of Monogenean species (Ludwig &

Reynolds, 1988). Green's index was used to

compare samples that vary in the total number of

individuals, their sample means and the number of

sample units in the sample. GI varies between 0 (for

random) and 1 (for maximum clumping) (Ludwig

& Reynolds, 1988). Statistical significance was set

at p < 0.05. Data were analyzed using the software

BioEstat 5.0.

collected: Amphithecium diclonophallum Kritsky,

Boeger & Jégu, 1997 (INPA 620); A. falcatum

Boeger & Kritsky, 1988 (INPA 621);

Anacanthorus amazonicus Kritsky & Boeger,

1995 (INPA 622); A. cintus Van Every & Kritsky,

1992 (INPA 623), A. cladophallus Van Every &

Kritsky, 1992 (INPA 624); A. crytocaulus Van

Every & Kritsky, 1992 (INPA 625); A.

gravihamulatus Van Every & Kritsky, 1992 (INPA

626); A. jegui Van Every & Kritsky, 1992 (INPA

1992 (INPA 632); A. serrasalmi Van Every &

Kritsky, 1992 (INPA 633), Anacanthorus sp. (INPA

mg clove oil L solution and euthanized

(CONCEA, 2013). In the field, fishes were

measured and weighed and posteriorly gills were

removed and preserved in formalin 5% for

posterior analyses at the laboratory of Fish

At the laboratory, the Monogenean species found

were preserved in formalin 5% (Amato et al.,

1991). For morphological studies, the parasites

were mounted in Grey and Wess medium (Amato et

al., 1991).

Taxonomical identification was according to

Serrasalmus spp.: A. cintus, A. cladophallus, A.

crytocalus, C. crescentis and N. euzeti.

Of the parasite species that occur on hosts of the

Family Serrasalmidae, 35 species of eight genera

hosts may be related to the biological and

ecological characteristics of both linage of hosts

and species of parasites (Agosta et al., 2010).

In this study S. altispinis was parasitized by 22

five of these genera are specific of Serrasalmidae

The opportunity to colonize new host species is

related to the availability of suitable hosts for a

s u c c e s s f u l c o l o n i z a t i o n . O n l y h o s t s

phylogenetically or ecologically related to their

parasites will provide them with the necessary

conditions for their survival and transmission

(Noble & Noble, 1961).

Serrasalmidae species bear high parasite richness

per host. They have shown to be parasitized by

many species of many genera and also tend to share

parasitized by large number of Monogenean

634), Calpidothecium crescentis (Mizelle & Price,

1965)(INPA 635); Enallothecium aegidatum

(Boeger & Kritsky, 1988) (INPA 636),

Mymarothecium whittingtoni Kritsky, Boeger &

Jegú, 1996 (INPA 637); Not o the c iu m

1).

Amphitecium falcatum, Anacanthorus jegui, A.

sciponophalus, Ancanthorus sp. and Notothecium

deleastoideum, were considered secondary species

(prevalence between 33-66%), the other species

were considered satellite (prevalence < 33%).

Anacanthorus jegui presented the highest

prevalence (50.85%). Notothecium deleastoideum

Values of the variance-to-mean-ratio and Green's

index for each Monogenean species showed an

aggregate distribution of the parasites in the host

with a low degree of aggregation.

The Monogenean species morphometric measures

and morphological characters are presented in

table 2.

Twenty-five (25) Monogenean species (Cohen et

al., 2013) are named for Serrasalmus spp. Out of

the 25 species mentioned for Serrasalmus spp. 16

and Notozothecium minor. Five species found in S.

altispinis are registered for the first time in

The co-existence of species can be favored by

reducing the overall intensity of competition via

aggregated utilization of hosts (Jaenike & James,

1991). The co-existence of species is facilitated if

species are distributed in a way that interspecific

species that allow small groups to settle in the same

gill parasite species. All these species are recorded

We are indebted to the PIATAM Project and the

National Research Institute of Amazonia (INPA)

for their logistical support, as well as to the whole

Fish Parasitology Laboratory staff team for the

technical assistance they provided us with

throughout this study.

The presence of core species indicates the

existence of stable and balanced populations,

indicating higher colonization and growth rates

(Bush & Holmes, 1986). The presence of

secondary species suggests moderate colonization

themselves only in small numbers or in existing

random gaps (Bush & Holmes, 1986).

In this study, the absence of core species and the

presence of several secondary and satellite species

in the gills of S. altispinis can be explained with the

high number of species registered for this host. The

absence of core species increases the availability of

the colonization area, where small groups of

secondary and satellite species can be established.

Possibly this is a strategy used by these parasite

species to cohabit in the gills of S. altispinis. In this

way the secondary species registered in this study,

accessory and accidental species are considered

transient or immigrant species. In the present study,

there were registered only accessory and accidental

species. In this way, the Monogenean species of S.

altispinis can immigrate from host to host species,

due to the low specificity of these parasites, which

use more than one Serrasalmidae species as host.

The influence of a fish species' ability to form

schools on the degree of parasite aggregation is

presented as a determining factor in parasite

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Kritsky, DC, Boeger, WA & Thatcher, VE. 1988.

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Amazonian Characoidea. Proceedings of

the Biological Society of Washington, vol.

101, pp. 87-94.

Ludwig, JA & Reynolds, JF. 1988. Statistical

nouvelle espèce de Serrasalmus (Teleostei:

Characidae: Serrasalminae), S. altispinis

1766) du plateau guyanais. Cybium, vol.

24, pp. 181-201.

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Boeger, WA, Vianna, RT & Thatcher, VE. 2006.

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