New records of helminth parasites in two species of river fish, province of Salta, Argentina

Abstract

Specimens of Trichomycterus spegazzini (Berg, 1897) and Jenynsia alternimaculata (Fowler, 1916) were collected in rivers and other water courses in the province of Salta. Both species were parasitized with the nematode Contracaecum sp. and Cucullanus (Cucullanus) pinnai pinnai (Travassos, Artigas & Pereira, 1928), the cestode Nomimoscolex sp. and unidentified metacestodes. However, the nematode Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) pintoi (Kohn & Fernandes, 1988) and the digenean Genarchella sp. infected only specimens of Trichomycterus spegazzini (Berg, 1897). Moreover, the nematodes Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) hilarii (Vaz & Pereira), 1934 and Rhabdochona (Rhabdochona) acuminata (Molin, 1860) were exclusive of specimens of Jenynsia alternimaculata (Fowler, 1916). In addition, the geographical distribution of the following species was enlarged: P. (S.) hilarii , P (S.) pintoi , Contracaecum sp., Rhabdochona (R.) acuminata , C. (C.) pinnai pinnai, Nomimoscolex sp. and Genarchella sp. Furthermore, we recorded Trichomycterus spegazzini and Jenynsia alternimaculata as new hosts for these species.