Ciclídeos e seus helmintos: síntese global da diversidade parasitária, fatores determinantes da riqueza de parasitos e estruturação das comunidades em diferentes níveis tróficos.

Abstract

The Cichlidae family is widely distributed in freshwater systems across regions such as Africa, South America, and parts of Asia. With approximately 3,000 described species, fish of this family hold significant economic value for food production, aquariums, and sport fishing. Given their broad distribution, they serve as useful models for studying the structure of parasite communities. Parasites play crucial roles in maintaining ecological balance by regulating host populations and contributing to the stability of food chains. Given these ecological roles, the present study aims to analyze and compile data on cichlid parasites, focusing on their geographic distribution and searching for patterns within parasite communities. Additionally, the study seeks to understand how host attributes influence the structuring of these communities and also seeks to identify whether these attributes, particularly the trophic level, can predict parasite richness. The study identified a limited number of parasite records in cichlids, with only 6% of the described species having been studied. The expected relationship between host size and parasite richness was not observed, suggesting that ecological and environmental factors may play a role in this dynamic. The absence of a strong relationship between host size and parasite richness may stem from complex, multifactorial influences that were not explored in this study. Our findings underscore the urgency of expanding descriptive studies to better understand host-parasite interactions and to support the conservation of these organisms.