Fatores associados à agregação, à abundância e à dominância parasitária em peixes coletados no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: um enfoque ecoepidemiológico

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the factors involved in the determination of ecological events, including parasite aggregation, abundance, and dominance, via multivariate analysis using fish as a biological model. For this purpose, we used a database consisting of 3,746 fish specimens collected on the coast of Rio de Janeiro and from the Guandu river and evaluated their characteristics, habits, and associated parasites. Parasites were grouped into seven higher taxa: Nematoda, Monogenea, Cestoda, Trematoda, Acanthocephala, Hirudinea, and Crustacea. Aggregation was calculated using the dispersion index; abundance was determined by calculating the total number of parasites; and dominance was calculated using the Berger-Parker index. Data normality was tested using the Shapiro-Wilk test; group comparisons, when necessary, were performed using the Wilcoxon test or the Kruskal-Wallis test. Adjustments were made in the linear regression models for parasite aggregation in each parasite taxon evaluated and in the mixed-effect models to evaluate abundance and dominance using Poisson and Gaussian distributions, respectively. The factors inherent to the hosts, including sex, size, habitats, formation of schools, eating habits, and aquatic environments, were tested as potential explanatory variables of these ecological events. In addition, the parasite development stage and parasite taxa were included as explanatory variables in the analysis of the determinants of aggregation and dominance, respectively. In the mixed-effects model, the ecological events were considered an outcome variable, and fish species were considered a random variable. Regression coefficients were calculated in the study of aggregation, and parasite dominance and prevalence rate were estimated in the study of abundance. Significance was determined using confidence intervals (CI) and the Wald test. All calculations were performed using R software with a confidence interval of 95%. Statistically significant associations between levels of parasite aggregation and explanatory variables (factors inherent to the host and the percentage of larvae) varied according to the parasite taxon. The coefficient of determination was lower than 60% in all of the adjusted models, indicating that factors other than those analyzed may be associated with the level of parasite aggregation. Parasite abundance was significantly associated with sex, formation of schools, habitats, and host length, which were considered risk factors. The numerical dominance of parasites was significantly associated with host length and the taxa Nematoda, Trematoda, Monogenea, Hirudinea, and Crustacea. In addition, our results indicate that the mixed-effects model was more parsimonious compared with the classical model, underscoring the importance of choosing a statistical model that takes into consideration the nature of the data to avoid spurious results, especially when autocorrelations data were not considered. In general, our results point to the need for developing studies with more comprehensive databases and larger samples of parasite species, in which data on the life cycles of fish species and parasite taxa can be analyzed more thoroughly.