Endoparasitic Fauna of lippincottianus (Cope, 1870) (: ) from Três Marias Reservoir, Upper São Francisco River, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Maria de Fátima Cancella de Almeida Berto¹*; Rayane Duarte¹; Cassandra Moraes Monteiro²; Marilia de Carvalho Brasil-Sato² 1 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Veterinárias, UFRRJ, RJ, Brasil, e-mail: [email protected] 2 Departamento de Biologia , Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, UFRRJ, RJ, Brasil.

Keywords: Digenea, Parasites of freshwater fish, Pharingodonidae, Procamallanus, Proteocephalidea, Spinitectus.

Metynnis lippincottianus (Cope, 1870) is a freshwater fish commonly known as ‘pacu’or . It is pelagic, reaches the total length of 20 cm and sexual maturation around 10 cm. The silver dollar feed on aquatic vegetables, fruits, seeds, phytoplanktonic algae, arthropods and debris. This omnivorous fish is found in the Amazon River Basin, northeast Rivers of the Guiana Basin, the Paraná River Basin and the Tocantins River Basin. The parasitic fauna of M. lippincottianus in the Amazon River Basin comprises: Ichthyophthirius multifiliis Fouquet, 1876 (Ciliophora, Ichthyophthiriidae); Anacanthorus jegui Van Every & Kritsky, 1992 (Monogenea, Dactylogyridae); Dadayius pacupeva Lacerda, Takemoto & Pavanelli, 2003 (Cladorchiidae) and encapsulated metacercariae (Digenea); Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) inopinatus Travassos, Artigas & Pereira, 1928, Procamallanus (S.) sp. (Camallanidae), Spinoxyuris oxydoras Petter, 1994 (Pharyngodonidae) and larvae of Contracaecum Railliet & Henry, 1912 (Nematoda, Anisakidae); Dolops longicauda Heller, 1857 (Branchiura, Argulidae) and an unidentified species of Glossiphoniidae (Hirudinea). In the Paraná River Basin, M. lippincottianus was parasitized by D. pacupeva, Procamallanus (S.) inopinatus, larvae of Contracaecum sp., S. oxydoras and Raphidascaris (Sprentascaris) mahnerti Petter & Cassone, 1984 (Nematoda, Anisakidae). The aim of the current work was to identify species which integrate the parasitic community of M. lippincottianus of the Upper São Francisco River and compare with the reports of the scientific literature. Specimens of M. lippincottianus collected by fishermen in the Três Marias Reservoir (18° 12' 59'' S; 45° 17' 34'' W), State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, were examined at the Laboratório de Biologia e Ecologia de Parasitos (LABEPAR) of Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ). The collected endoparasites were studied according to the methodology used in Icthyoparasitology. Of the 67 fishes analyzed, 63 specimens were parasitized. Three unidentified species of intestinal nematodes were found distributed among Procamallanus Baylis, 1923, with 30.0% of prevalence (P), 1.80 of mean infection intensity (MI) and 0.54 of mean abundance (MA), Spinitectus Fourment, 1883, with P = 2.9%, MI = 1.00 and MA = 0.03, and Pharingodonidae specimens with P = 85.1%, MI = 155.80, and MA = 132.54. An unidentified specimen of Digenea from the posterior intestine, with P = 1.49%, MI = 1.00 and MA = 0.01; and masses containing several unidentified plerocercoids of Proteocephalidea (Eucestoda) in the peritoneal cavity, with P = 41.8%. These results are unpublished records of M. lippincottianus parasites in the São Francisco River and will allow to increase the knowledge about the ecological requirements of this species of fish in this basin. After identification at the specific level, it will be possible to check the parasitic species of M. lippincottianus which are potentially transmissible to ichthyofauna in this water system and to compare this parasitic fauna with those recorded in Metynnis spp..

Support: 1ªCIRPA/CODEVASF, Três Marias, MG. Financial support: *CNPq Scholarship/ Capes Scholarship – Edital 032/2010 - Basic Parasitology.