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Map of Middle Tocantins River, showing the collection point of the hosts close to the urban perimeter of Imperatriz, in the village of Embiral, state of Maranhão, Brazil.
Source publication
Several studies have demonstrated parasitism by monogenoids in characiform fish in the Neotropics. During studies on the helminth fauna of curimatids from the Tocantins River, specimens of Psectrogaster amazonica Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1889 were examined and species of Curvianchoratus Hanek, Molnar & Fernando, 1974 were found. Species of the genus...
Citations
Fish farming is increasingly important globally and nationally, playing a crucial role in fish production for human consumption. Monitoring microbiological and chemical contaminants from water discharge is essential to mitigate the risk of contaminating water and fish for human consumption. This study analyzes the physicochemical and E. coli parameters of water and tambacu fish muscles (Colossoma macropomum × Piaractus mesopotamicus) in Western Maranhão, Brazil. It also includes a qualitative characterization of zooplankton in the ponds. Samples were collected from tambacu ponds in a dam system fed by natural watercourses from the Tocantins River tributaries, located at the connection of the Brazilian savanna and Amazon biomes. The physicochemical and E. coli parameters of water did not meet national standards. The zooplankton community included Rotifera, Cladocera, Copepoda, and Protozoa representatives, with no prior studies on zooplankton in the region, making these findings unprecedented. The biological quality of freshwater is crucial in fish farming, as poor quality can lead to decreased productivity and fish mortality, raising significant food safety concerns. The water quality studied is related to the potential influence of untreated wastewater as a source of contamination, leaving the studied region still far from safe water reuse practices. The findings on chemical and E. coli contamination of fish farming waters concern human health and emphasize the need for appropriate regulations.
A new and two previously described species of Ameloblastella Kritsky, Mendoza-Franco & Scholz, 2000 were found in the gills of two pimelodid catfishes from the Tocantins River, Maranhão State, Brazil: Ameloblastella prima n. sp. from Pimelodina flavipinnis Steindachner, and A. edentensis Mendoza-Franco, Mendoza-Palmero & Scholz, 2016 and A. peruensis Mendoza-Franco, Mendoza-Palmero & Scholz, 2016 from Hypophthalmus marginatus Valenciennes. The new species differs from its congeners by having an accessory piece tubular, covered by a delicate membranous cap at 2/3 of the length, by the shape of the ventral and dorsal anchors, in which the ventral anchor is represented by a curved shaft in a position of 80° degrees, with delicate ornamentations located at the superficial and deep root areas, and the dorsal anchor with a long, well-developed and convex superficial root and short deep root, also presenting delicate ornamentations at the superficial and deep root areas. The present study provides new biogeographical data on the two previously described species of Ameloblastella and improves the knowledge on the species of Monogenoidea from the Neotropical Region, increasing to 14 the number of known species of Ameloblastella for this region.