Temporal dynamics of parasite community in the three-spot cichlid Amphilophus trimaculatus from Tres Palos Lagoon, Guerrero, Mexico.

The temporal dynamics of parasite communities of the Three-spot cichlid Amphilophus trimaculatus Günther 1867 was examined during an annual cycle. A total of 770 fishes were collected between March 2019 and February 2020 from a tropical costal lagoon. Thirteen taxa of metazoan parasites were identified, two of monoxenous and 11 of heteroxenous parasites. No significant changes were observed in the species composition of parasite communities in A. trimaculatus during a 12-yr period (2008-2020). The prevalence of infection of six heteroxenous parasites Austrodiplostomum ostrowskiae Dronen, 2009, Cladocystis cf. trifolium Poche, 1926, Clinostomum cf. tataxumui Sereno-Uribe, Pinacho-Pinacho, García-Varela et Pérez-Ponce de León, 2013, Crassicutis cichlasomae Manter, 1936, Southwellina cf. hispida Witenberg, 1932 and Contracaecum sp. varied between sampling months, and/or climatic seasons. Some species were more prevalent during some months of the dry season, while others during the rainy season, suggesting that these parasite populations respond differently to environmental changes. The environmental changes generated by the dry/rainy cycle may have affected the availability of intermediate host populations, and the feeding and reproductive behaviour of the host. Temporal variations in the infection levels of some parasite species generated important changes in the structure of the component communities over time. This study allows us to appreciate the sensitivity of parasite-host systems to environmental variability, and suggests that alterations to hydrological regimes could have significant consequences on parasite biodiversity in tropical brackish water environments.