On Temnocephala axenos Monticelli, 1898 (Platyhelminthes, Temnocephalida): taxonomic status and designation of a neotype.

Temnocephala axenos Monticelli, 1898 was described based on specimens from an unidentified host collected in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Information about type locality was imprecise and the host was later identified as Aegla laevis (Latreille, 1818). However, it is known that A. laevis is not present on the eastern side of the Andes. Also, only histological preparations from one specimen studied by Monticelli are currently available in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, but it showed none of the taxonomic characters needed for the characterization of the species. Although the updated description of the species based on Uruguayan specimens, neither the author nor the several previous studies about the species showed a search for the type material, a resolution for the misidentification of the type host or the imprecise type locality due to the subsequent geographical division of the municipality cited in the description. The Uruguayan specimens were not even geographically close to the type locality and a neotype was not designed to validate the species' taxonomic status again. Specimens from Santa Catarina and Paraná States, Brazil, were studied, as well as restudied Argentinean specimens. The new data were compared with the update description of the species. The historical background and the discussion about geographical origins and hosts of the species, as well as a designation of a neotype, allow comparative material of the type locality and type host to exist, eliminating doubts about the identification of T. axenos.

Corynosoma sp, acanthocephala, polymorphidae em umbrina canosal, osteichthyes, sciaenidae do litoral do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil / Corynosoma sp acanthocephala polymorphidae in umbrina canosai, osteichthyes, sciaenidae from littoral of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

Quarenta e tres espécimes de umbrina canosai capturados no litoral do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil, foram examinados entre agosto de 1991 a fevereiro de 1992. Quarenta peixes (93 por ciento) estavam infectados pelo acantocéfalo corynosoma sp. (cistacanto) na cavidade abdominal e no mesentério intestinal, com uma intensidade média de 43,3 e uma densidade relativa de 40,3. Corynosoma sp. foi positivamente correlacionada com o comprimento total dos hospedeiros, mas, a prevalencia e a intensidade parasitária de corynosoma sp. nao foram influenciadas pelo sexo dos hospedeiros

Community ecology of the metazoan parasites of grey mullets, Mugil platanus (Osteichthyes: Mugilidae) from the litoral of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Cento e cinqüenta espécimes de tainhas, Mugil platanus Günther, capturados no litoral do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, entre junho de 1984 e agosto de 1988, foram necropsiados para o estudo de suas infracomunidades parasitérias. foram coletadas 25 espécies de metazoários parasitos. Cento e quarenta e nove peixes (99,3 por cento) estavam parasitados por uma ou mais espécies de metazoários. De acordo com seus valores de importância, 13 espécies foram consideradas dominantes, 7 espécies codominantes e 2 espécies subordinadas ( digenéticos foram a maioria dos espécimes de parasitos coletados, com 63.7 por cento). A presença de estágios larvares de digenéticos e costeróides sugere que M. platanus ocupa um nível intermediário na teia trófica marinha. O índice de Simpson para todas as espécies de parasitos foi baixo (0,059), mostrando ausência de dominância de uma espécie na comunidade parasitária. Os parasitos de M. platanus apresentaram o típico padräo superdisperso de distribuiçäo. As localidades de captura dos hospedeiros foram consolidadas em três grupos e sua comunidades parasitárias mostraram alta similaridade quantitativa e qualitativa, com altos valores para o coeficiente e similaridade de Sorenson e para o coeficiente de similaridade percentual...

Comparative analysis of the metazoan parasite communities of leatherjackets, Oligoplites palometa, O. saurus, and O. saliens (Osteichthyes: carangidae) from Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

One hundred and fifty-seven specimens of leatherjackets, 84 specimens of Oligoplites palometa (Cuvier), 37 specimens of O. saurus (Bloch & Schneider), and 36 specimens of O. saliens (Bloch) captured at the Sepetiba Bay, State of Rio de Janeiro, between March of 1991 and November of 1992, were necropsied to study their communities of metazoan parasites. All fishes studied were parasitized by one or more metazoan species. Eighteen parasite species were found in O. palometa and 13 parasite species were found in O. saurus and O. saliens, respectively. The digeneans were the majority of the parasite specimens collected, with 90.3 per cent, 82.2 per cent, and 87.7 per cent in O. palometa, O. saurus, and O. saliens, respectively. The Simpson index was lower than 0.25 for the 3 host species, showing an absence of concentration for dominance. The similarity coefficients among the parasite communities of the 3 fish species was above 66 per cent. The parasites of the 3 host species showed typical overdispersed pattern of distribution. Four cases of positive correlation between host's total lenght and prevalence and parasite intensity were found. The majority of the species did not show influence of host sex. The 3 host species had similar parasite diversity, which was not correlated with the host's total body length and there was no significant difference between male and female hosts. Oligoplites palometa and O. saurus each had one pair of ectoparasite species sharing a positive association and with a positive correlation between their intensities. No pairs of associated species were found in O. saliens. Parasites were found along the entire extension of the gastrointestinal tract of the 3 host species. The parasite communities of O. palometa, O. saurus, and O. saliens are defined as isolationists because there are few evidences of interspecific association or covariation. The presence of larval stages of cestodes and nematodes suggests that the three species of Oligoplites are at an intermediate level in the marine trophic web.

Monogeneans of Leatherjackets, Oligoplites spp. (Osteichthyes: Carangidae), with the description of a new species of Metacamopia (Monogenea: Allodiscocotylidae) from the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Metacamopia oligoplites n. sp., a gill filament parasite of carangid fishes of three species of Oligoplites Gill, O. palometa (Cuvier), O. saurus (Bloch & Schneider), and O. saliens (Bloch), from the coast of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is described and illustrated. Metacamopia oligoplites n. sp. differs from M. indica by: the shape of the body; the pre-, para-, and post-germarial testes; vaginas lacking sclerotized structures; well-developed seminal receptacles; muscular sleeves around the constriction between the vaginas and the seminal receptacles; and the haptor highly asymmetric, with a large, hee-like area; and differs from M. chorinemi by: the esophagus lacking diverticles: a larger number of testes (26-55) and not just, appoximately 10; and the vaginas lacking sclerotized structures of any kind. This is the first record of Metacamopia in the South Atlantic Ocean. The generic diagnosis of Metacamopia is emended. Hargicola oligoplites is reported for the first time in the South Atlantic Ocean. Oligoplites palometa and O. saliens are new host records for Hargicola oligoplites.

A new species of Probursata Bravo-Hollis, 1984 (Mogenea: Heteraxinidae: Heteraxininae) parasite of Oligoplites spp. (Osteichthyes: Carangidae) from the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Probursata brasiliensis n. sp., a gill filament parasite of carangid fishes, O. palometa (Cuvier), Oligoplites saurus (Bloch & Schneider), and O. saliens (Bloch), from the Brazilian coast, is described and illustrated. The new species differs from Probursata veraecrucis Bravo-Hollis, 1984, the type and only species of this genus by the presence of spines in the auricular expansions of the genital atrium, by the trifurcate supplementary process of the clamp's midsclerite, and by having a larger number of tests and clamps. This is the first record of the genus Probursata Bravo-Hollis, 1984, in the South Atlantic Ocean

Larvas de anisakídeos de peixe-espada, Trichiurus lepturus L., da costa do estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil / Anisakid larvae from cutlass fish, Trichiurus lepturus L., from the coast of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Duzentos e dezessete peixe-espada, Trichiurus lepturus L., pescados por pescadores profissionais na costa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil (21-23ºS, 42-45ºW) foram examinado com o objetivo de localizar larvas de nematóides anisakídeos. Os peixes mediram 49 a 200 cm de comprimento total e pesaram 380 a 3800 g. Além do exame das serosas dos vários órgäos, a musculatura foi filetada para assegurar a remoçäo de todas as larvas presentes. Os nematóides foram mortos em A.F.A. quente, desidratados em série alcoólica, clarificados em lactofenol de Amann ou glicerina, e em creosoto de faia, e montados em bálsamo do Canadá. A prevalência de todas as larvas de anisakídeos foi 33,18 por cento, enquanto que a prevalência de Contracaecum sp. foi de 97,23 por cento e a de Anisakis sp. foi de 2,77 por cento. Os peixes na classe de tamanho de 121-140 cm e na classe de peso de 1001-2000 g foram os mais parasitados. Isto era esperado uma vez que o parasitismo por larvas de anisakídeos é do tipo cumulativo. Conclui-se que os peixes-espada da costa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro oferecem pouco perigo à saúde pública pois a infecçäo com larvas L3 de Amisakis sp. é desprezível