<b>Occurrence and ecological aspects of the metazoan fish parasites from Ingá lake, Maringá, Paraná State</b> - DOI: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v29i3.507

Abstract

Ingá lake was dammed in 1970 and, since then, no study on fish and parasites had been done, but it has suffered anthropic influences. This study analyzed some ecological aspects of the metazoan parasites form this lake. From analyzed fish, 69.5% had at least one species of parasite. Among them, 1.372 parasites were found, prevailing Nematoda (larvae) and Platyhelminthes (Monogenea and Cestoda). The discovery of cestode larvae in Tilapia rendalli and Oreochromis nitolicus confirms the importance of these species as participants of intermediate trophic levels. The great number of Tilapia rendalli and Oreochromis nitolicus in the lake can be a determining factor for the presence of parasites, because they take advantage of host species that are plentiful to guarantee the development of their life cycle and also because they are more susceptible to predator birds, which makes it a place of great importance for the continuation of these parasites life cycle. The low diversity of endoparasites collected can be justified by the presence of heavy metal – Cu and Pb – on the sediment, which must be interfering in the invertebrate development, a possible intermediate host.