Gabriela Muñoz

• PhD
• University of Valparaíso

Muestreos exploratorios para caracterizar coinfecciones por caligidosis, piscirickettsiosis, virus ISA y AGD en Salmo salar mórbidos en un centro de cultivo en Curaco de Vélez, Chiloé insular el 2011, y aparentemente sanos en otro centro en Hueihue el 2013, mostraron la presencia estacional de la amebiasis. Las muestras histopatológicas y de PCR en...

Hyponeoidae is a copepod family that is rare around the world, with only three species described until now. Recently, a hyponeoid copepod was found in the narrowmouthed catshark, Schroederichthys bivius, from Chile, which has not been formally described. The objective of this study is to describe morphologically a new species of Hyponeoidae, from s...

Parasites may have various effects on their host's health. It is important to determine the type of the effects but also to decipher the physiological mechanisms underlying a parasitic infection. In this study, swimming ability (by a fixed swim speed test) and haematological analyses (by blood parameters) will compare between juvenile fish Girella...

En este estudio se describen las comunidades de parásitos de Notothenia rossii Richardson, 1844 en dos localidades antárticas, la Zona Norte de la Península Antártica (NPA) y la Isla Greenwich (IGR). Además, se consideró como una tercera localidad los datos de Muñoz y Rebolledo (2018) recolectados en la Isla Rey Jorge (IRJ). Se comparó la abundanci...

Purpose: The parasitic diversity on the intertidal fish of the Southern American Cone is barely known. The present study describes two new parasitic copepod species, a Clavella and a Haemobaphes found on the nototheniid fish Patagonotothen cornucola. Methods: The fish were collected from the intertidal zone of the Strait of Magellan, Southern Ch...

En la presente investigación se analizó la comunidad de parásitos de dos especies de tiburones del sur de Chile debido al escaso conocimiento de la relación entre parásitos y tiburones de la zona. Un total de 24 especímenes del tiburón linterna Etmopterus granulosus y siete especímenes de la pintarroja del sur Schroederichthys bivius fueron recolec...

PurposeThe intertidal and supratidal coastal zone challenges the osmoregulatory capacity of aquatic inhabitants. Four new species of Gyrodactylus ectoparasites on two intertidal fishes from Chile are described based on molecular and morphological analyses.Methods Monogeneans were found from two fish species, the clingfish Sicyases sanguineus Müller...

El conocimiento de comunidades de parásitos es muy abundante en peces marinos; sin embargo, hay varias especies que tienen escasa información parasitológica, como es el caso de Patagonotothen tessellata (Richardson, 1845), que posee una amplia distribución y abundancia en la Patagonia. Este estudio tuvo como objetivos determinar la composición comu...

Larval copepods are frequent parasites that infest fish larvae along the Chilean coast. Because these parasites develop on fish during the early development, when their bodies are fragile and in a recent stage, they can affect the fishes’ early life history traits (ELHT). The goal of this study was to determine the effect of parasitic copepods on t...

La brótula o bacalao austral, Salilota australis (Günther, 1887), es un pez gadiforme que vive al sur de las costas sudamericanas. En décadas pasadas, esta especie de pez fue sobreexplotada, sin embargo, en la actualidad tiene escasa importancia económica. La biología de la brótula es poco conocida, y existen pocos registros de parásitos, es así qu...

Parasite composition can be affected by physiological and ecological changes during host ontogeny. Intertidal fish do not travel long distances and live in the same area throughout their lifetimes, meaning that parasite communities can differ across geographic ranges. The objective of this study was to analyse the parasite communities of three fish...

Microcotyle is one of the most diverse and controversial genera within the family Microcotylidae. To date, 131 species have been described in Microcotyle; however, more than half have been transferred to other genera, and several others have poor descriptions. Therefore, less than half of all Microcotyle species may be considered valid. In Chile, t...

Notothens are abundant fish in the Austral Ocean, therefore they stablish many interactions with other species, and thus they have become important components in the ecosystem. However, the relationships between these fish and their parasites are poorly understood. The parasite community of the intertidal notothen Patagonotothen cornucola has been...

In this study, we analysed and compared the whole parasite community from the fish Notothenia rossii and Notothenia coriiceps collected from Fildes Bay at King George Island, Antarctica, during January–February 2017 in a field campaign supported by the Chilean Antarctic Institute. The fish samples collected were 45 specimens of N. rossii and 22 of...

Notothen fishes (Nototheniidae) have been recorded on the coasts of South America, from 35°S to southern. Little is known about the biology of intertidal notothen fishes or their relationships with other species, including parasites. Here, we analyzed the parasitic fauna of a species of Notothenia collected from the rocky intertidal of Lebu, south-...

The most studied digenean of marine organisms in Chile is by far Proctoeces humboldti, a parasite of the intestine of the clingfish Sicyases sanguineus and gonad of the keyhole limpet Fissurella spp. (progenetic metacercariae). The mussel Perumytilus purpuratus has been suggested as the first intermediate host for this digenean. In a study examinin...

The parasite community structure in fish species of Chile have scarcely been analysed through time and locations, making it difficult to understand the spatio-temporal variation patterns. In this study, we investigated whether the endoparasitic community of three intertidal fishes in central Chile exhibited spatial or temporal changes. We collected...

Two new digenean species are described from the intertidal blenny Scartichthys viridis (Valenciennes) (Blenniidae) collected off the coasts of Chile. The digenean Monorchimacradena viridis n. sp. (Lecithasteridae: Macradenininae) differs from the only known species described in the genus, M. acanthuri Nahhas and Cable 1964, in the presence of Drüse...

Metacercarial stages of digeneans were collected from decapod crustaceans inhabiting intertidal rocky zone of central Chile. The digeneans were identified through a molecular analysis based on the V4 region of the 18S ribosomal RNA gene. We analyzed 356 crustaceans belonging to 10 species, 115 intertidal fish belonging to 6 species and 4 specimens...

Despite the fact interactions between parasites and hosts are constant and obligatory for parasites; the spatial variations of these relationships are poorly understood. In this study we aim to quantify and compare the host-parasite interactions in intertidal fish from two sampling zones: the central (33°S) and central-south (36°S) of Chile. A tota...

Parasitic copepods of the family Caligidae are common on marine fish worldwide, and some species are responsible for disease outbreaks in aquaculture. Ten species of Lepeophtheirus have thus far been described in the south-eastern Pacific coast. Seven species have been recorded from littoral fish species. However, the latitudinal distribution and h...

A new species, Hemipera cribbi sp. nov., is described. This trematode was found in three intertidal fish species: Scartichthys viridis (Valenciennes) (Blenniidae), Gobiesox marmoratus Jenyns (Gobiesocidae) and Myxodes viridis Valenciennes (Clinidae) from the central and southern coast of Chile. Of 233 individuals of S. viridis from the central coas...

The objective of this study is to determine the temporal variation of oceanographic conditions, ichthyoplankton and their ectoparasites in nearshore marine waters. From October 11th 2012 to June 5th 2014, 30 ichthyoplankton surveys were carried out along a cross-shelf transect from 0.25 km of the coastline to 4.50 km offshore off Montemar, Bahía Va...

Labrid fish, commonly known as wrasses, are distributed in tropical and subtropical marine areas. However, the majority of biological knowledge of labrids, including parasitological studies, derives from the Indo Pacific. This study provides a list of the parasite species reported in labrids around the world based on published references from diffe...

La estructura de la comunidad de parásitos, determinada mediante análisis de anidamiento, varía considerablemente en función de la especie hospedera y el tamaño corporal de la misma. El patrón anidado es aquel en el que comunidades pobres en especies constituyen subunidades de comunidades de mayor riqueza, lo cual también se observa en las comunida...

Crustaceans play an important role in parasite life cycles, serving as second intermediate hosts. However, there are scarce parasitological studies in crustaceans from the rocky intertidal habitats, in Chile and around de world. In this study we aimed to record the parasites in decapod crustaceans, compare their parasitic loads between localities a...

Eumetazoan parasites in fish larvae normally exhibit large body sizes relative to their hosts. This observation raises a question about the potential effects that parasites might have on small fish. We indirectly evaluated this question using energetic metabolic laws based on body volume and the parasite densities. We compared the biovolume as well...

In the present study, we determine the presence of parasites in fish larvae collected from nearshore waters along the northern and central coast of Chile. The parasites were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level based on morphological and molecular analyses. The fish sample was composed of 5 574 fish larvae. Of these, 3% harboured only...

Variation in parasite populations may be temporal and/or spatial, related to environmental factors, but it may also be due to differences in host-population density, which is one of the main factors affecting the abundance of directly transmitted parasites. Fish larvae and their ectoparasites were collected by ichthyoplankton samplings in a three-y...

Larval growth and hatching days of lanternfishes Diogenichthys laternatus and Myctophum nitidulum (Myctophidae) collected in nearshore waters (< 1 km offshore) at Mejillones Bay, northern Chile during September 2012, were estimated on the basis of microstructure analysis of sagitta otoliths, in order to establish potential differences in the early...

This study analyzed whether the trematode Prosorhynchoides sp., at metacercaria stage, affects the sustained swimming capacity of the intertidal juvenile sea chub Girella laevifrons. Fifteen non-parasitized and 15 experimentally infested fish were used in this study. Wild fish were infested under laboratory conditions by cercaria from an infected m...

This study analyzed whether the trematode Prosorhynchoides sp., at metacercaria stage, affects the sustained swimming capacity of the intertidal juvenile sea chub Girella laevifrons. Fifteen non-parasitized and 15 experimentally infested fish were used in this study. Wild fish were infested under laboratory conditions by cercar ia from an infected...

Most research about ecological interactions between ectoparasites and their hosts has been carried out in the adults and/or juvenile stages of fishes, but there is scarce information related to ectoparasites on fish larvae. These hosts are more vulnerable to the effects of parasites than adult due to their fragile nature and considering they are in...

We describe the life cycle of the bucephalid Prosorhynchoides carvajali from the intertidal rocky zone of central Chile. To elucidate the life cycle of this digenean, two mytilid bivalves, Semimytilus algosus and Perumytilus purpuratus, and ten intertidal fish species belonging to the families Blenniidae, Tripterygiidae, Labrisomidae, Kyphosidae an...

Gyrodactylus chileani n. sp. is the first Gyrodactylus species reported from Chile. It is an ectoparasite living on fins and skin of a small fish, the Chilean tidal pond dweller Helcogrammoides chilensis (Cancino) (Perciformes: Tripterygiidae). A phylogenetic analysis based on 5.8S+ITS2 of rDNA placed the new species close to marine Gyrodactylus sp...

The bivalve Perumytilus purpuratus is a common species that is widely distributed throughout rocky intertidal zones in Chile. This bivalve is the first intermediate host for three trematode species: one bucephalid (an undetermined species) and two fellodistomids (Proctoeces lintoni and one undetermined species). A few studies based on morphological...

Parasites can infect larval, juvenile or adult marine fishes; however, the effects of parasites on the growth and condition of fish larvae have seldom been investigated. This study analysed the effects of a parasitic copepod on the larval growth of the Chilean triplefin Helcogrammoides chilensis (Tripterygiidae) based on the microstructure of the s...

This study communicates a new record of six specimens of Pseudopentaceros richardsoni, collected from 500 Nm off Coronel, Chile. In addition, this study provides: the morphometry of this species, a general view of the geographical distribution of the family Pentacerotidae for the southeastern Pacific Ocean, and information on the metazoan parasites...

Monthly variation in parasite populations and communities, from the blenniid fish Scartichthys viridis, were assessed during two consecutive years in order to examine monthly and seasonal temporal patterns. A total of 969 S. viridis was collected from September 2006 to August 2008 in central Chile. Sample size and fish total length (TL) varied amon...

The authors describe two new species of Colobomatus Hesse, 1873. The first, Colobomatus tenuis n. sp. is parasitic on Scartichthys viridis in waters off Antofagasta and Valparaiso and on Scartichthys gigas and Auchenionchus variolosus from Antofagasta. C. tenuis lives in the preopercular canals of its fish host. This new species has three simple ce...

This study analyzed the variation of the parasite infracommunities and their relationship with the diet and spatial distribution of the clingfish Sicyases sanguineus during its ontogeny. In total, 154 clingfish were collected from the intertidal and the upper subtidal zone of Pacific Ocean along the central Chilean coast. A wide range in body lengt...

This study communicates a new record of six specimens of Pseudopentaceros richardsoni, collected from 500 Nm off Coronel, Chile. In addition, this study provides: the morphometry of this species, a general view of the geographical distribution of the family Pentacerotidae for the southeastern Pacific Ocean, and information on the metazoan parasites...

Con el objetivo de determinar y analizar la parasitofauna de cuatro especies de peces litorales de la isla Robinson Crusoe, se recolectó, entre el año 2008 y 2009, un total de 52 ejemplares de Scartichthys variolatus, 39 para Scorpis chilensis, 25 para Girella albostriata y 37 para Malapterus reticulatus. Cada ejemplar fue examinado exteriormente e...

This study analyzed the diet and parasites of an insular blenniid fish, Scartichthys variolatus, and then compared that with data published for two congeneric species from the South American Pacific coast, S. viridis and S. gigas. Fifty-two specimens of fish were collected during 2008 and 2009 from the intertidal zone of the Robinson Crusoe Island,...

Se describen y comparan las comunidades de parásitos en el pez blénido Scartichthys viridis de El Tabo y Las Cruces, dos localidades cercanas de Chile central. Catorce especies parásitas fueron encontradas, cuatro de ellas fueron persistentes a través de las muestras. Hubo una correlación positiva y significativa entre la riqueza, la abundancia inf...

Parasite infracommunities of the wrasse Coris batuensis (Bleeker, 1857) were analysed, and the relationship between endoparasites, diet, and host body weight inferred. Thirty-two fish were collected from Lizard Island, Australia. Percentage frequency of occurrence of prey categories in the gut was determined and abundance, prevalence and species ri...

The different species of a fish assemblage can, to some extent, be similar in terms of their parasite communities, which can be associated with certain ecological host traits. This study compared the parasite community descriptors between temporal and resident fish species composing an intertidal assemblage from central Chile. Host specificity and...

The present study examines variation in parasite community characteristics of the toadfish Aphos porosus across sampling years. We analyzed and compared the species composition and numeric descriptors of the parasite infrapopulations and infracommunities in 101 fish collected during the springs of 1999, 2006, and 2007 from rocky intertidal ponds in...

This study describes and quantifies the eumetazoan parasite community of the toadfish Aphos porosus (Valenciennes, 1837). To accomplish this purpose, 30 toadfish individuals were collected from intertidal rocky pools at El Tabo, Central Chile between October 2006 and January 2007. The descriptors of the parasite infracommunity (abundance, richness,...

This study compiles the parasite and hosts species of Chile from aquatic systems surveyed in different scientific studies, mainly published between 1897 and 2007. The fauna of eumetazoan endoparasites of aquatic hosts were represented by the phyla Platyhelminthes, Nematoda and Acanthocephala. A total of 162 parasite species were surveyed, plus anot...

This study describes and quantifies the eumetazoan parasite community of the toadfish Aphos porosus (Valenciennes, 1837). To accomplish this purpose, 30 toadfish individuals were collected from intertidal rocky pools at El Tabo, Central Chile between October 2006 and January 2007. The descriptors of the parasite infracommunity (abundance, richness,...

This study compiles the parasite and hosts species of Chile from aquatic systems surveyed in different scientific studies, mainly published between 1897 and 2007. The fauna of eumetazoan endoparasites of aquatic hosts were represented by the phyla Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, and Acanthocephala. A total of 162 parasite species were surveyed, plus ano...

In this study, we describe 2 new species of Ascarophis van Beneden, 1871 (Nematoda: Cystidicolidae), found in fishes from southern Chile. Ascarophis carvajali n. sp. was found in Austrolycus depressiceps and Patagonotothen cornucola, whereas Ascarophis draconi n. sp. was taken from Champsocephalus gunnari. These new Ascarophis species differ from o...

Actualmente existen cerca de 380 publicaciones científicas referidas a parásitos eumetazoos obtenidos de animales acuáticos recolectados a lo largo de Chile. Sin embargo, esta literatura está dispersa en distintas fuentes bibliográficas; algunas con más de un siglo de antigüedad. Pocos intentos se han dirigido para resumir esta información en lista...

To date there are about 380 scientific publications on eumetazoan parasites collected from aquatic animals from Chile. However, all this information is spread on different bibliographic sources including some old articles (a century old). Few studies have summarized in checklists the surveys of some groups of parasite and host species. The main obj...

The role of ecological and phylogenetic processes is fundamental to understanding how parasite communities are structured. However, for coral reef fishes, such information is almost nonexistent. In this study, we analyzed the structure of the parasite communities based on composition, richness, abundance, and biovolume of ecto- and endoparasites of...

The metazoan parasite fauna of Chilean freshwater hosts consists of approximately 60 parasite taxa. Fifty three percent of the infections were recorded to the genus or family level, with the remaining 47% to species level. Parasites from 5 Phyla have been found: Arthropoda, Acanthocephala, Nematoda, Platyhelminthes and Myxozoa. Altogether, these ph...

Niche apportionment models have only been applied once to parasite communities. Only the random assortment model (RA), which indicates that species abundances are independent from each other and that interspecific competition is unimportant, provided a good fit to 3 out of 6 parasite communities investigated. The generality of this result needs to...

The parasite community of animals is generally influenced by host physiology, ecology, and phylogeny. Therefore, sympatric and phylogenetically related hosts with similar ecologies should have similar parasite communities. To test this hypothesis we surveyed the endoparasites of 5 closely related cheilinine fishes (Labridae) from the Great Barrier...

Digeneans have complex life cycles with 2 reproductive phases and 2-3 hosts such as molluscs, crustaceans and vertebrates. Despite numerous records of adult digeneans from many host species of Chile, there are few records in invertebrates. The aim of this study is to provide information about juvenile phases of digeneans in the amphipod Hyale grand...

This study describes the community of all metazoan parasites from 14 individuals of thicklip wrasse, Hemigymnus melapterus, from Lizard Island, Australia. All fish were parasitized, and 4,649 parasite individuals were found. Twenty-six parasite species were identified although only 6 species were abundant and prevalent: gnathiid isopods, the copepo...

Digeneans have complex life cycles with 2 reproductive phases and 2-3 hosts such as molluscs, crustaceans and vertebrates. Despite numerous records of adult digeneans from many host species of Chile, there are few records in invertebrates. The aim of this study is to provide information about juvenile phases of digeneans in the amphipod Hyale grand...

Similascarophis (Cystidicolidae) n. gen. is proposed. In the mouth of specimens of this genus, submedial labia are absent and pseudolabia do not have any part projecting toward the central oral opening. These nematodes were obtained from the alimentary tract of 7 marine fish species along the coast of Chile: Bovichthys chilensis Regan, Eleginops ma...

As a general test of the energetic equivalence rule, we examined macroecological relationships among abundance, density and host body mass in a comparative analysis of the assemblages of trophically transmitted endoparasitic helminths of 131 species of vertebrate hosts. Both the numbers and total volume of parasites per gram of host decreased allom...

Knowledge on what, how much, when and where hosts eat and live should help to understand the changes that occur in parasite communities because transmission of endoparasites is tightly linked to diet composition as well as ectoparasites are to the use that hosts make of the habitat. Thus, geographical and ontogenetic variations in diet and parasite...

Parasite body volume and infracommunity patterns in the southern pomfret Brama australis (Pisces: Bramidae) Volumen corporal del parásito y patrones infracomunitarios en la reineta Brama australis (Pisces: Bramidae) ABSTRACT The patterns of infracommunity descriptors (diversity, dominance, abundance) are compared when calculated with the number and...

Knowledge on what, how much, when and where hosts eat and live should help to understand the changes that occur in parasite communities because transmission of endoparasites is tightly linked to diet composition as well as ectoparasites are to the use that hosts make of the habitat. Thus, geographical and ontogenetic variations in diet and parasite...

The patterns of infracommunity descriptors (diversity, dominance, abundance) are compared when calculated with the number and body volume of the parasites in a sample of 26 southern pomfrets Brama australis collected in the area off Talcahuano, Chile. No numerical infracommunity descriptor was correlated with its corresponding volumetric descriptor...

A new acanthocephalan species, Spiracanthus bovichthys n. gen. n. sp., is described. Samples were taken from 26 marine fish species between 23 and 53 degrees S of Chile. The parasite was found in the intestine of 6 species and only between 36 and 40 degrees S, especially in those fish that prey on small crustaceans in the upper and sublittoral zone...

On coastal habitats near Concepción city, Chile, there are two isopod species Ione ovata Shiino, 1964, and Ionella agassizi Bonnier, 1900 both occupying the gill chambers of the ghost shrimp Neotrypaea uncinata (H. Milne Edwards, 1837). However, in I. ovata, the prevalence is smaller, there is a low frequency of coupled isopods in the same gill cha...

Cryptobia neghmei sp.n. is described from the blood of two species of flounder, Paralichthys microps and P. adspersus, inhabiting the Chilean coast in the southern Pacific Ocean. Flagellates were elongate, slender, with two flagella and a conspicuous undulating membrane. It was distinguished from previously described species on the basis of its unu...

On coastal habitats near Concepcion city, Chile, there are two isopod species Ione ovata Shiino, 1964, and Ionella agassizi Bonnier, 1900 both occupying the gill chambers of the ghost shrimp Neotrypaea uncinata (H. Milne Edwards, 1837). However, in I. ovata, the prevalence is smaller, there is a low frequency of coupled isopods in the same gill cha...

Cryptobia neghmei sp.n. is described from the blood of two species of flounder, Paralichthys microps and P. adspersus, inhabiting the Chilean coast in the southern Pacific Ocean. Flagellates were elongate, slender, with two flagella and a conspicuous undulating membrane. It was distinguished from previously described species on the basis of its unu...

A new nematode belonging to the Cystidicolidae is described, Pseudascarophis genypteri n. sp. was found in the intestine of the red ling Genypterus chilensis, sampled off Talcahuano, Chile. It is distinguished from Ascarophis species mainly by the absence of cephalic papillae and of submedial and medial labia. The other species in the genus, Pseuda...

A new nematode belonging to the Cystidicolidae is described. Pseudascarophis genypteri n. sp. was found in the intestine of the red ling Genypterus chilensis, sampled off Talcahuano, Chile. It is distinguished from Ascarophis species mainly by the absence of cephalic papillae and of submedial and medial labia. The other species in the genus, Pseuda...

Se estudió la asociación de poliquetos con el cirripedio Austromegabalanus psittacus en la Península Gualpén (VIII Región, Chile). Se informa y discute la importancia de esta asociación para los ensambles de poliquetos submareales, y se indaga sobre la importancia que tiene el tamaño corporal del cirripedio en la abundancia y biodiversidad de poliq...

We studied the parasite fauna and food contents of 38 juvenile of Notothenia c.f. angustata specimens captured in the intertidal of Island Santa María and Maule, in the Arauco Gulf, Chile. Trophic habits of Notothenia c.f. angustata were not different between localities, which was mainly algae. A total 11 parasitic taxa among were found with the di...

We studied the parasite fauna and food contents of 38 juvenile of Notothenia c.f. angustata specimens captured in the intertidal of Island Santa María and Maule, in the Arauco Gulf, Chile. Trophic habits of Notothenia c.f. angustata were not different between localities, which was mainly algae. A total 11 parasitic taxa among were found with the di...

We studied the association of polychaetes with the cirriped, Austromegabalanus psittacus on the Peninsula of Gualpén (VIII Region, Chile). Here we report and discuss the importance of this association for assemblages of subtidal polychaetes, we also investigated about the importance of cirriped body size on the abundance and biodiversity of polycha...

In the symbiosis between ghost shrimps and bopyrid isopods we studied some reciprocal effects on the reproduction of the symbionts. Samples were taken between february and july 1995 at Lenga, Chile (36 degrees 45' S; 73 degrees 10' W). Hosts were sampled from two habitats: estuary and beach, and consisted on 214 Callichirus garthi (Retamal 1975) an...

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2006. Includes bibliography.