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academies
J Parasit Dis Diagn Ther 2017 | Volume 2 Issue 4
International Conference on
Zoology, Microbiology & Medical Parasitology
October 30-November 01, 2017 | Chicago, USA
U
nderstanding the environmental and anthropogenic
factors influencing the probability of occurrence of
the marine parasites is fundamental for determining the
circumstances under which they can act as bioindicators of
environmental impact. The aimof this studywas to determine
whether physicochemical variables and polyaromatic
hydrocarbons affect the probability of occurrence of the
larval cestode Oncomegas wageneri, which infects the shoal
flounder,
Syacium gunteri
, in the southern Gulf of Mexico.
The study included 162 sampling sites, where sediments,
water and the shoal flounders were collected. We used
the boosted generalized additive models (boosted GAM)
to examine the potential statistical relationships between
the contaminants and physicochemical variables from the
water and sediments, and the probability of the occurrence
of this parasite. The boosted GAM accurately predicted the
probability of the occurrence of
O. wageneri
. The variables
with the highest frequencies of appearance in the models
(proxies for the explained variability) were the polyaromatic
hydrocarbons of high molecular weight (PAHH, 95 %). The
PAHH, together with N and P, are carried by rivers that
discharge into the ocean, which enhances the growth of
bacteria and intermediate hosts. Our results suggest that
sites with PAHL/PAHH ratio values up to 1.89 promote
transmission based on the high values of the prevalence
of
O. wageneri
in the study area. In contrast, PAHL/PAHH
ratio values ≥1.90 were apparently harmful for the parasite
transmission. Overall, the results indicate that the PAHHs
affect the probability of occurrence of
O. wageneri
in the
southern Gulf of Mexico.
e:
vvidal@cinvestav.mxEnvironmental and anthropogenic factors affecting the probability of occurrence of
Oncomegas wageneri
(Cestoda: Trypanorhyncha) in the southern Gulf of Mexico
Víctor M Vidal-Martínez
Cinvestav, México