Diversitas Journal (Oct 2019)
Neoechinorhynchus curemai (Acanthocephala: Neoechinorhynchidae) as an indicator of environmental impacts in the Peixe River, São Paulo State, Brazil / Neoechinorhynchus curemai (Acanthocephala: Neoechinorhynchidae) como indicador de impactos ambientais no rio do Peixe, estado de São Paulo, Brasil
Abstract
In recent decades parasites have attracted a lot of attention from researchers and are considered to be good bioindicators, as they exhibit different responses to the stress caused by anthropogenic changes. The objective of the present work was to analyze if the acanthocephalus parasite Neoechinorhynchus curemai, Prochilodus lineatus parasite, reflects the environmental conditions of two sites of the Peixe river, located in the state of São Paulo. Sixty specimens of P. lineatus were collected between January and July 2012, in two locations of the river: mouth with the Tietê river and in the Head of Boi Lagoon, with different environmental and limnological characteristics. The physicochemical analysis of the water was performed and the Electronic Spin Resonance (ESR) technique was applied to evaluate the metal uptake by the parasites. The results of the physicochemical analysis of the water show that the mouth of the river can be considered an area that suffers the most from anthropogenic actions, since there the prevalence and abundance of N. curemai were lower than those observed in the Head Lake. de-ox. In the ESR spectrum it was possible to observe the presence of two metals in the analyzed parasites: copper and manganese. The concentrations of 2.13 µg / g and 1.3 µg / g of Mn and 120 µg / g and 85 µg / g of Cu were determined in the specimens collected from the mouth and the lagoon, respectively, indicating a higher concentration of paramagnetic centers in the parasite samples collected from fish obtained from the mouth (p <0.05). Thus, it is possible to conclude that acanthocephalus can be considered as good indicators of environmental impacts since organisms collected from areas considered to be more polluting show a higher concentration of metals and lower average prevalence and abundance.
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