Publication details
Parasites of endemic and introduced cichlid fish in Madagascar
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The endemic cichlid species of Madagascar represent the 5 following genera: Paretroplus, Paratilapia, Ptychochromis, Ptychochromoides and Oxylapia with 20 valid species and another probably 10 undescribed species. The recent knowledge on the native parasitofauna of Malagasy freshwater fish is very limited. We investigated the metazoan parasites of native and introduced cichlid species living in the northern part of Madagascar. Four regions - National Park Ankarafantsika, Anjingo, the Lakes of Mont Passot and Andevoranto - were sampled for cichlid species. Concerning the cichlids introduced from mainland Africa, 3 species were investigated for parasites: Oreochromis niloticus, O. mossambicus, Coptodon rendalli. Other 7 cichlid species endemic to Madagascar were investigated for the presence of metazoan parasites: Paratilapia lamena, Paratilapia sp. 1, Paratilapia sp. 2, Ptychochromis grandidieri, Ptychochromis sp. 1, Ptychochromis sp. 2 and Paretroplus polyactis. Monogenea (mainly gill ectoparasites) was the parasite group with the highest prevalence in cichlid species but with low or moderate intensity of infection. On the other hand, Cestoda reached generally moderate prevalence but in some cases very high intensity of infection in cichlids introduced from Africa when compared to endemic cichlids. Only endemic cichlids in the last region studied were highly infected by copepods. In general, our study indicates that the abundance of endemic cichlids is weak and they are likely outcompeted by cichlid species introduced from Africa. Our study reveals the risk of cichlid introduction for native endemic cichlids as we found that native endemic cichlids are susceptible to parasite species originated from Africa or Asia. Five Cichlidogyrus species (C. halli, C. sclerosus, C. thurstonae, C. tiberianus and C. tilapiae) and Scutogyrus longicornis (Monogenea) were introduced to Madagascar with their African cichlid hosts. C. tilapiae in endemic cichlids even exceeded the intensity of infection on cichlids introduced from Africa. Two endemic monogeneans were present strictly in endemic cichlids and only in Andevoranto: Insulacleidus paretropli in P. polyactis and I. ptychochromidis in P. grandidieri were identified. |
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