Saccocoelioides is a genus within the family Haploporidae and is distributed throughout the Americas. The recent application of molecular techniques has facilitated the reorganization of this genus and the description of new species, resulting in a current total of 28 species. In Argentina, 11 species have been identified; however, the validity of Saccocoelioides bacilliformis and Saccocoelioides octavus remains controversial. Recently, specimens of digeneans were collected from two distinct geographical locations: the Paraná River basin (Misiones province) and the Río de la Plata basin (Buenos Aires province). These specimens were found parasitizing two different fish species: Bryconamericus sylvicola and Bryconamericus iheringi. Sequences of the 28S and COI genes were obtained for both digeneans from the two collection sites and hosts. The morphological study, combined with genetic sequences, confirmed their assignment to the genus Saccocoelioides. The COI and 28S gene sequences obtained from specimens at both collection sites exhibited genetic distances of 0.13% and 3.41%, respectively, indicating that these Saccocoelioides specimens represent a single species. The comprehensive taxonomic study of the newly collected specimens, along with an examination of the type material of S. bacilliformis and S. octavus, allows us to confirm the validity of both species. Argentina is home to more than 550 species of freshwater fauna, and it is likely that new species of Saccocoelioides remain to be discovered in underexplored regions of the basin, such as the Uruguay, Pilcomayo and Bermejo rivers.

Here we describe a new species of the genus Saccocoelioides found parasitizing Astyanax dissimilis Garavello & Sampaio, Psalidodon bifasciatus (Garavello and Sampaio) and Bryconamericus ikaa Casciotta, Almirón & Azpelicueta from the Iguazu National Park, Misiones province, Argentina. Saccocoelioides miguelmontesi n. sp. was studied based on morphological and molecular (28S rDNA and COI mtDNA sequences) data. The COI mtDNA tree indicated that the specimens collected from the three fish hosts are conspecific, with an intragroup p-distance of 0%. The new species shows an intermediate morphological configuration between the diminutive and robust forms described for Saccocoelioides by Curran (2018). Although, in the 28S rDNA tree, it is placed in a well-supported clade with the two robust species analysed (S. elongatus and S. magnus; p-distance of 1 and 2%, respectively), it differs from the robust group by the range of body size, mature egg size, oral and ventral sucker size, sucker ratio, oral sucker to pharynx ratio, and post-cecal or post-testis/body length percentage. Our results led us to redefine the robust group as having eggs shorter or equal in length to the pharynx. Saccocoelioides miguelmontesi n. sp. the 10th species reported from Argentina and the 7th species within the robust group.

Individual hosts are often co-infected with multiple parasite species. Evidence from theoretical and empirical studies supports the idea that co-occurring parasites can impact each other and their hosts via synergistic or antagonistic interactions. The fundamental aim of understanding the consequences of co-infection to hosts and parasites requires an understanding of patterns of species co-occurrence within samples of hosts. We censused parasite assemblages in 755 adult, male fathead minnows collected from 7 lakes/ponds in southern Alberta, Canada between 2018 and 2020. Fifteen species of endoparasites infected fathead minnows, 98% of which were co-infected with between 2 and 9 parasite species (mean species richness: 4.4 ± 1.4). Non-random pairwise associations were detected within the overall parasite community. There were particularly strong, positive associations in the occurrences and intensities of the 2 congeneric larval trematodes Ornithodiplostomum sp. and Ornithodiplostomum ptychocheilus that comprised >96% of the 100 000+ parasites counted in the total sample of minnows. Furthermore, the occurrence of Ornithodiplostomum sp. was a strong predictor of the occurrence of O. ptychocheilus, and vice versa. Positive covariation in the intensities of these 2 dominants likely arises from their shared use of physid snails as first intermediate hosts in these waterbodies. These 2 species represent a predictable and non-random component within the complex assemblage of parasites of fathead minnows in this region.

Microsporidia are diverse opportunistic parasites abundant in aquatic organisms with some species hyperparasitic in digenean parasites. In the current study, we describe a unique microsporidian parasite, Ovipleistophora diplostomuri n. sp. that has a tropism for both the bluegill sunfish Lepomis macrochirus, and its digenean parasite Posthodiplostomum minimum. Though the microsporidium first infects a fish, the subsequent infection causes hypertrophy of the metacercarial wall and degeneration of the P. minimum metacercariae within the fish tissue. Genetic analysis placed this species within Ovipleistophora and ultrastructural characteristics were consistent with the genus, including the presence of dimorphic spores within sporophorous vesicles. Meronts did not have a surface coat of dense material, which has been previously reported for the genus. This is the first Ovipleistophora species described that does not have a tropism for ovary. Genetics demonstrated that O. diplostomuri n. sp. groups closely within fish microsporidia and not other species known to be hyperparasitic in digeneans, suggesting that it evolved from fish-infecting microsporidians and developed a secondary tropism for a common and widespread digenean parasite. The high genetic identity to Ovipleistophora species demonstrates the close relationship of this unique microsporidian with other microsporidia that infect ovary.

A new final fish host (Stromateus brasiliensis) for the digenean parasite Monascus filiformis from the continental shelf of Patagonia Argentina in the South-western Atlantic Ocean is reported. This demersal-pelagic fish (commonly denominated pampanito) is exclusively a jellyfish consumer. It is well known that larval stages of Monascus filiformis mostly use medusae as secondary hosts. Therefore, the pampanito likely acquires this parasite when it predates upon some species of parasitized medusae in the area. This work improves the knowledge about the final hosts of this parasite and infers which species of medusa may be involved in their life cycle.

A sample of 111 fish of eight species caught in two fjords at South Georgia were examined for digenean trematode parasites. The alimentary tracts of all specimens were infected with digeneans. The dominant species was Elytrophalloides oatesi (Leiper & Atkinson) which was found in all fish, with a maximum number of 1961 specimens per fish. Other common species were; Macvicaria pennelli (Leiper & Atkinson), Lepidapedon garrardi (Leiper & Atkinson), Lecithaster macrocotyle Szidat & Graefe, Genolinea bowersi (Leiper & Atkinson) and Postmonorchis variabilis Prudhoe & Bray. Three further species, Neolebouria antarctica (Szidat & Graefe), Discoverytrema markowskii Gibson and Gonocerca phycidis Manter, were rare. Infection of the most commonly caught fish at South Georgia, Notothenia rossii Richardson, is compared with that of N. rossii at Admiralty Bay, South Shetland Islands. The species composition of common parasites was similar in both areas but conspicuous differences in the frequency of individual digenean species were found.

Monthly data collected during 1993 in the Vaccarès lagoon (Rhône Delta, France) were used to investigate the influence of the trematode Aphalloïdes cœlomicola on the survival of the common goby Pomatoschistus microps, which acts both as second intermediate and definitive host. Prevalence of the parasite did not increase with fish size in either sex. Mean abundance and variance to mean abundance ratio gave evidence that the trematode could have an impact on host mortality. Gonad weight of parasitized females was reduced and the parasite seemed to provoke a gonadal regression above a certain parasitic biomass. Fecundity and egg diameters did not differ between parasitized and unparasitized females, we thus hypothesize that the energy content of eggs (composition in lipids and proteins) was probably modified as an adaptation to energy losses. Prevalence of infection in males compared to females and influence of the parasite on host survival and reproductive effort are discussed.