TITLE:
Parasite Communities of the Pacific Mole Crab, Emerita rathbunae (Anomura: Hippidae), in Sandy Beaches from Guerrero and Michoacán, Mexico
AUTHORS:
Juan Violante-Gonzalez, Guadalupe Quiterio-Rendon, Scott Monks, Sergio García-Ibañez, Griselda Pulido-Flores, Agustín A. Rojas-Herrera, Edvino Larumbe-Moran
KEYWORDS:
Parasite Community, Emerita rathbunae, Hippidae, Mexican Pacific Coast
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Marine Science,
Vol.5 No.4,
October
27,
2015
ABSTRACT: The species composition
and infection levels were determined for helminth parasites in the mole crab, Emerita rathbunae, collected
from seven sandy beaches from Guerrero and Michoacán, México. A total of 494
crabs were collected between August and December of 2009. The number of crabs
that were examined from each beach varied from 40 in Lázaro Cárdenas to 114 in
El Revolcadero. The cephalothorax length varied significantly between the sampled
beaches, from 32.9 ± 5.5 mm
(Ixtapa) to 40.5 ±1.7 mm(Las Trancas). Four species of larval parasites were
identified: 1 metacercaria (Microphallus nicolli), 1 cystacanth (Profilicollis sp.), 1 cestode (Trypanorhyncha) and 1
nematode (Proleptus sp.).
Infection levels (prevalence and mean abundance) varied significantly between
beaches, due to possible differences in the availability of final or
intermediate hosts in beaches visited by tourist and those beaches not visited
by tourists, as well as the size of individual hosts. Helminth communities, at
levels of component and infracommunity, were characterized by a low number of
species (3 to 4) and a high dominance by the metacercaria of M. nicolli. The body size of
the hosts was positively correlated with the number of parasites and species
richness of helminths, indicating that larger crabs accumulate a higher number
of parasites during the lifetime, and that they harbor a higher number of
species of helminth than smaller crabs.