Louizi H., Hill-Spanik K. M., Qninba A., Connors V. A., Belafhaili A., Agnèse Jean-François, Pariselle Antoine, de Buron I. (2022). Parasites of Moroccan desert Coptodon guineensis (Pisces, Cichlidae) : transition and resilience in a simplified hypersaline ecosystem. Parasite, 29, p. 64 [18 p.]. ISSN 1252-607X.
Titre du document
Parasites of Moroccan desert Coptodon guineensis (Pisces, Cichlidae) : transition and resilience in a simplified hypersaline ecosystem
Année de publication
2022
Auteurs
Louizi H., Hill-Spanik K. M., Qninba A., Connors V. A., Belafhaili A., Agnèse Jean-François, Pariselle Antoine, de Buron I.
Source
Parasite, 2022,
29, p. 64 [18 p.] ISSN 1252-607X
Sebkha Imlili (Atlantic Sahara) is a salt flat with over 160 permanent holes of hypersaline water generated in the Holocene and inhabited by euryhaline organisms that are considered to be relics of the past, including the cichlid fish Coptodon guineensis. We surveyed the fish parasites four times over one year, to i) identify the parasites, and ii) determine possible seasonality in infection patterns. Over 60% of the fish were infected by one to three helminths: an acanthocephalan in the intestine and two digenean metacercariae in the kidney, spleen, liver, muscle, and mesenteries. The acanthocephalan Acanthogyrus (Acanthosentis) cf. tilapiae was identified morphologically and molecularly; only one digenean (the heterophyid Pygidiopsis genata) could be identified molecularly. Both identified parasites were present throughout the sampling periods; the unidentified metacercariae were present only in summer and fall. Mean intensities, but not prevalence of infection by the acanthocephalan, reflected a biannual pattern of transmission. Infection accrued with fish size, possibly due to cannibalism. Because the water holes include only a few invertebrates, the intermediate hosts of these parasites can be inferred to be the gastropod Ecrobia ventrosa for the digeneans and either the copepod Cletocamtpus retrogressus or the ostracod Cyprideis torosa for the acanthocephalan. This ecosystem appears stable and provides a window into the past, as the acanthocephalan likely switched from freshwater tilapia to C. guineensis when the Sebkha formed. However, this is a vulnerable environment where the survival of these parasites depends on interactions maintained among only very few hosts.
Plan de classement
Limnologie biologique / Océanographie biologique [034]
;
Ecologie, systèmes aquatiques [036]
;
Entomologie médicale / Parasitologie / Virologie [052]
Description Géographique
MAROC ; SAHARA
Localisation
Fonds IRD [F B010086799]
Identifiant IRD
fdi:010086799
