Metazoan Parasite Communities of Three Endemic Cichlid Fish Species from the Upper Grijalva River, Chiapas, Mexico

We recorded the metazoan parasite communities in three endemic cichlids (Chiapaheros grammodes, Vieja breidohri and V. hartwegi) collected between November 2008 and July 2009 in the upper Grijalva River Basin (GRB), Chiapas, Mexico. In total, 6,287 individual parasites belonging to 18 taxa (1 monogenean, 6 digeneans, 1 cestode, 4 nematodes, 2 acanthocephalans, 1 hirudinean, 2 copepods and 1 pentastomid) were found. Eleven metazoans were adult forms and 7 larvae; moreover, 14 were endoparasites and 4 ectoparasites. Sixteen parasite taxa represent new geographical and host records. The helminth community in the three cichlids was characterized by higher number of generalists than specialists, as well as a higher proportion of autogenics than allogenics. The metazoan parasites showed prevalence and mean abundances moderate to high. The infracommunities and component community of metazoan parasites had low diversity, richness, and number of individuals and are similar to those reported for other cichlids in Southeastern Mexico, characterized by the presence of typical parasites of cichlids, with a high number of digeneans and generalist parasites. We report the introduced Asian parasitic copepod Neoergasilus japonicus parasitizing endangered or threatened endemic cichlids in the upper GRB. This copepod have been widespread in other freshwater fish species, mainly in Asia (China, India, Japan, Russia, Taiwan), Europe (France, Hungary, Italy, Turkey), and America (Cuba, Mexico, Peru, United States).