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Krill Nyctiphanes simplex gonad affection associated with acute-intensity phyllobothriid plerocercoid infection

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Abstract

This is the first acute-intensity record of helminths parasitizing the subtropical krill Nyctiphanes simplex Hansen, 1911. We briefly describe the pathology of infection of Phyllobothriidae gen. sp. plerocercoids parasitizing N. simplex in the Gulf of California. Infection occurred with a very low prevalence (P = 0.06%, n = 1563 specimens), although acute-intensity exceeded several hundred plerocercoids crowding the hemocoel in one female host. Nyctiphanes simplex showed inflammatory response of hemocyte-based infiltration, nodule formation, and presumptive melanization. Remarkably, cestodes invade and supplant the gonad, causing atretic oocytes and severe tissue destruction in the gonad likely leading to castration and cell death in connective tissue of the infected organs suggesting that acute-intensity infection exceeds the krill’s reaction capacity. Thus, Phyllobothriidae gen. sp. negatively affects the host by depleting its fitness, leading to total castration to prevent/block host reproduction.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Carmen Rodríguez-Jaramillo and María E. Meza-Chávez from CIBNOR for technical assistance in histology processing and Captain Pascual Barajas Flores and the crew of the R/V El Puma for their collaboration during field sampling.

Funding

Research funds come from the Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas-IPN (SIP 2007–2019), CONACYT-FOSEMARNAT (2004-C01-144, 2016), CONACYT-SAGARPA (2005-1-11717), CONACYT Ciencia Básica (2012-178615-C01; 2016-01-284201), and Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología–Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (CONACYT Ciencia Básica 2010-152580-C01; PAPIIT-UNAM IN210622, IN202319, IN20066610-3). J.R.M.A. was a recipient of CONACYT (176164) and BEIFI-IPN doctoral grants. J.G.G is a EDI-IPN and COFAA-IPN fellow, and J.G.G. and C.J.R. are SNI fellows.

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Author notes

  1. José Raúl Morales-Ávila

    Present address: Fishery Quality Control Centre, Ministry of Fisheries Wealth, P.O. Box 427, 100, Al Bustan-Muscat, Oman

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecología y Conservación de la Vida Silvestre A.C. (ECOVIS), Marcelo Rubio, entre Oaxaca y Jalisco 3530, 23060, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico

    José Raúl Morales-Ávila

  2. Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Departamento de Plancton y Ecología Marina, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Av. IPN, s/n, 23096, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico

    José Raúl Morales-Ávila & Jaime Gómez-Gutiérrez

  3. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico

    Carlos J. Robinson

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  1. José Raúl Morales-Ávila
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Correspondence to José Raúl Morales-Ávila or Jaime Gómez-Gutiérrez.

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Morales-Ávila, J.R., Gómez-Gutiérrez, J. & Robinson, C.J. Krill Nyctiphanes simplex gonad affection associated with acute-intensity phyllobothriid plerocercoid infection. Parasitol Res 119, 1155–1160 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06549-7

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