Parasite Community of Cichla kelberi (Perciformes, Cichlidae) in the Tres Marias Reservoir, Minas Gerais, Brazil

A total of 112 specimens of yellow peacock bass, Cichla kelberi, were collected in the Tres Marias Reservoir, upper Sao Francisco River, State of Minas Gerais, between 2004 and 2005. Twelve species of parasites were collected: two species of ectoparasites (the monogenetic Gussevia sp. and the copepod Ergasilus sp.); and ten species of endoparasites, including four species of adult endoparasites: the cestodes Proteocephalus macrophallus and P. microscopicus, and the nematodes: Capillostrongyloides sentinosa and Rhabdochona acuminata, and six species of larval endoparasites: the metacercariae of Austrodiplostomum compactum and the nematodes: Hysterothylacium sp., Contracaecum sp. Type 1, Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) inopinatus, Spiroxys sp., and Goezia sp.. A significant positive correlation in the abundance of the two adult endoparasites species, P. macrophallus and P. microscopicus, may indicate that such associated species had the same ecological requirements. The positive correlations between the prevalence of the larval endoparasites, Hysterothylacium sp. and A. compactum, may indicate that there was opportunism for the two generalists species. Ergasilus sp., C. sentinosa, R. acuminata and Hysterothylacium sp. were recorded for the first time in C. kelberi, and this increased their list of known hosts. In addition, both proteocephalid species and C. sentinosa can extend their known biogeographical distribution to the Tres Marias Reservoir.