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ARTICLES

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2013): Rev. Arg. Parasitol.

Rol de los anfípodos (Amphipoda) en ambientes de agua dulce de Patagonia: epibiosis y parasitismo

  • Carlos Alejandro Rauque
Submitted
October 5, 2026
Published
2026-10-07

Abstract

In Argentina studies about epibionts and parasites on crustaceans are scarce, so the objective of the present study was to report the presence of those organisms in amphipods of the genus Hyalella and to increase their distribution range in freshwater environments in Patagonia. Amphipods were collected with a sieve of 1 mm of mesh size in different freshwater environments in Patagonia, including a latitudinal range between 38º27’S and 54º55’S (Neuquén to Tierra del Fuego provinces). Between 2002 and 2005, 24571 amphipods were captured in 43 localities. In the present study were recorded 21 taxons of epibionts and endoparasites in Hyalella spp. The epibionts were ciliates (Peritrichia sp. y Folliculinidae gen. sp.), digeneans (Catatropis chilinae, Notocotylus biomphalariae and another unidentified notocotilid) and rotifers. The endoparasites were microsporidians (Thelohania sp., Microsporidium sp. and Microsporidia sp.), digeneans (Maritrema patagonica), cestodes (4 species of Cyclophyllidea), nematodes (Acuariidae gen. sp., Hedruris suttonae and Hedruris sp.) and acanthocephalans (Acanthocephalus tumescens, Pomphorhynchus patagonicus, Pseudocorynosoma sp. and Polymorphus sp.). The findings reported in this study indicate the important role of Hyalella species in Patagonian freshwater environments considering they provide substrate for epibionts organisms and they act as intermediate hosts for many metazoan endoparasites.

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