Díaz-Gallegos, A., J. Violante-González, S. Monks, E.F. Mendoza-Franco, A.A. Rojas-Herrera, P. Flores-Rodríguez, Y. Gallegos-Navarro & C. Valencia-Cayetano. (2026). Influence of Environmental Conditions on the Structure of Parasite Communities of Mugil curema (Valenciennes, 1836) from Five Tropical Coastal Lagoons. New Zealand Journal Of Zoology. 53(1):1-12. Jan 2026 e70010.
Díaz-Gallegos, A., J. Violante-González, S. Monks, E.F. Mendoza-Franco, A.A. Rojas-Herrera, P. Flores-Rodríguez, Y. Gallegos-Navarro & C. Valencia-Cayetano
2026
Influence of Environmental Conditions on the Structure of Parasite Communities of Mugil curema (Valenciennes, 1836) from Five Tropical Coastal Lagoons.
New Zealand Journal Of Zoology
53(1):1-12. Jan 2026 e70010
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Most tropical coastal lagoons are currently greatly impacted by anthropogenic activities that promote the emergence of parasite diseases in aquatic organisms. This is because water is a medium necessary for the transmission of larval stages of many parasite species. A total of 433 specimens of Mugil curema (Valenciennes, 1836) were collected between April and October of 2024 from five coastal lagoons exposed to different levels of anthropogenic impact in Guerrero, Mexico. The main objective was to determine the effect of local environmental factors on the structuring of parasite communities of this fish. Fifteen species of parasites were identified: one of Monogenea (adult), five Digenea (two adults and three larvae), three Acanthocephala (one adult and two juvenile), one Cestoda (larvae), two Nematoda (one adult and one larvae), and three Crustacea (two copepods and one branchyuran). Three parasite species were classified as specialist of mugilid fish (Ligophorus sp., Floridocentis pacifica, and Ergasilus lizae), and the remaining species were generalist parasites acquired by the host, during its stay in the coastal lagoons. Five allogenic species that use ichthyophagous birds as definitive hosts represented 87% of the total parasites recovered, thereby highlighting the importance of this species of fish as an intermediate host for these parasites. The component communities and the infracommunities of M. curema exhibited a similar pattern: low numbers of species, low diversity, and high dominance by a single parasite species [the heterophyid Ascocotyle (Phagicola) longa]. Species composition and structure of the component parasite communities were strongly influenced by the physical and environmental characteristics of each coastal lagoon as surface area, salinity, oxygen and phosphate concentrations, and pH.
