New data on endohelminth communities of barbel Barbus barbus from the Bulgarian part of the River Danube

Species diversity and composition of the parasite communities of barbel (Barbus barbus) at the infracommunity and component community levels were studied in the Lower Danube River, Bulgaria. During the two-year investigations, five parasite species have been found in 92 host fish: Bathybothrium rect...

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Main Authors: Chunchukova M., Kirin D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2018-09-01
Series:Helminthologia
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2018-0016
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author Chunchukova M.
Kirin D.
author_facet Chunchukova M.
Kirin D.
author_sort Chunchukova M.
collection DOAJ
description Species diversity and composition of the parasite communities of barbel (Barbus barbus) at the infracommunity and component community levels were studied in the Lower Danube River, Bulgaria. During the two-year investigations, five parasite species have been found in 92 host fish: Bathybothrium rectangulum (Cestoda), Acanthocephalus anguillae and Pomphorhynchus laevis (Acanthocephala) and larval stages of Contracaecum sp. and Raphidascaris acus (Nematoda). Bathybothrium rectangulum and R. acus found in barbel represented new host records in Bulgaria. Parasite communities of barbel were species-poor and highly unbalanced. Pomphorhynchus laevis represented the dominant (core) species (prevalence 98.9 %), the second most frequent component parasite was Contracaecum sp. (P = 14.1 %) and remaining three species occurred only accidentally in barbels. Differences in species richness, prevalence, intensity of infection and ecological indices between individual seasons (spring, summer, autumn) were statistically significant, but considerably affected by unequal species structure of communities with highly prevailing P. laevis. Low parasite species diversity of barbel and low values of most ecological indices, when compared with previous studies in this area (or other Bulgarian parts of the River Danube) might indicate that environmental conditions are impaired and thus, not favourable for the development of barbel parasites (primarily to their intermediate host survival) in the Lower Danube River of Bulgaria.
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spelling doaj.art-eb0bff1c21e844b482381369ce1d4d982023-08-02T08:09:25ZengSciendoHelminthologia0440-66051336-90832018-09-0155322222910.2478/helm-2018-0016helm-2018-0016New data on endohelminth communities of barbel Barbus barbus from the Bulgarian part of the River DanubeChunchukova M.0Kirin D.1Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, Agricultural University-Plovdiv, Mendeleev 12, 4000, Plovdiv, BulgariaDepartment of Ecology and Environmental Protection, Agricultural University-Plovdiv, Mendeleev 12, 4000, Plovdiv, BulgariaSpecies diversity and composition of the parasite communities of barbel (Barbus barbus) at the infracommunity and component community levels were studied in the Lower Danube River, Bulgaria. During the two-year investigations, five parasite species have been found in 92 host fish: Bathybothrium rectangulum (Cestoda), Acanthocephalus anguillae and Pomphorhynchus laevis (Acanthocephala) and larval stages of Contracaecum sp. and Raphidascaris acus (Nematoda). Bathybothrium rectangulum and R. acus found in barbel represented new host records in Bulgaria. Parasite communities of barbel were species-poor and highly unbalanced. Pomphorhynchus laevis represented the dominant (core) species (prevalence 98.9 %), the second most frequent component parasite was Contracaecum sp. (P = 14.1 %) and remaining three species occurred only accidentally in barbels. Differences in species richness, prevalence, intensity of infection and ecological indices between individual seasons (spring, summer, autumn) were statistically significant, but considerably affected by unequal species structure of communities with highly prevailing P. laevis. Low parasite species diversity of barbel and low values of most ecological indices, when compared with previous studies in this area (or other Bulgarian parts of the River Danube) might indicate that environmental conditions are impaired and thus, not favourable for the development of barbel parasites (primarily to their intermediate host survival) in the Lower Danube River of Bulgaria.https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2018-0016barbus barbushelminthsparasite community structureseasonalitydanube riverbulgaria
spellingShingle Chunchukova M.
Kirin D.
New data on endohelminth communities of barbel Barbus barbus from the Bulgarian part of the River Danube
Helminthologia
barbus barbus
helminths
parasite community structure
seasonality
danube river
bulgaria
title New data on endohelminth communities of barbel Barbus barbus from the Bulgarian part of the River Danube
title_full New data on endohelminth communities of barbel Barbus barbus from the Bulgarian part of the River Danube
title_fullStr New data on endohelminth communities of barbel Barbus barbus from the Bulgarian part of the River Danube
title_full_unstemmed New data on endohelminth communities of barbel Barbus barbus from the Bulgarian part of the River Danube
title_short New data on endohelminth communities of barbel Barbus barbus from the Bulgarian part of the River Danube
title_sort new data on endohelminth communities of barbel barbus barbus from the bulgarian part of the river danube
topic barbus barbus
helminths
parasite community structure
seasonality
danube river
bulgaria
url https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2018-0016
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