Metazoan parasites of white mullet Mugil curema Valenciennes, 1836 (Mugiliformes: Mugilidae) and new records of occurrence in the western Atlantic, Brazil

Abstract

Mugil curema is a pelagic fish species and it is considered the most common species of the Mugilidae family on the Brazilian coast. The objective of this study was to compile the existing information on the metazoan parasites of this host, as well as including new records from specimens captured in the Cabedelo city, state of Paraiba, Brazil. In the present study, we listed 81 taxa belonging to ten groups previously recorded for the host M. curema, and included 16 species recorded in the Cabedelo region. Eight out of 16 parasite taxa found in the Cabedelo region are first host records for M. curema: Ligophorus brasiliensis, Ligophorus sp.1, Ligophorus sp.2 (Monogenea), Fellodistomidae gen. sp., Bucephalidae gen. sp. (Digenea), Pharyngodonidae gen. sp. (Nematoda), Piscicolidae gen. sp. (Hirudinea) and Lernaeopodidae gen. sp. (Copepoda). Monogenea was the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by Copepoda. Despite the number of existing parasitological studies on this host species, new records of occurrence were made for the Cabedelo region and for the host, indicating that the knowledge about the parasites associated with this fish species is still under construction, especially because of its wide geographic distribution.