FIRST RECORD OF LARVAE OF Hysterothylacium (NEMATODA: RAPHIDASCARIDIDAE) INFECTING Hoplias malabaricus (CHARACIFORMES: ERYTHRINIDAE) IN PIAUÍ STATE, BRAZIL

Nematode larvae can cause damage to fish and diseases to consumers. In this paper we record the first occurrence of Hysterothylacium sp. in Hoplias malabaricus captured by artisanal fishers in the Poti River, State of Piauí, northeast Brazil. In the laboratory the fish were investigated for the collection of helminths. Sixteen hosts (63.3%) were parasitized by 94 nematodes larvae that were morphologically identified as Hysterothylacium sp. parasitizing the liver, intestine, stomach, pyloric cecum, abdominal cavity and swim bladder. The parasitic diversity in H. malabaricus is composed of thirty-two taxa, with the larvae of Contracaecum being dominant. This work records the parasitological inventory of nematodes in H. malabaricus and we add morphological and morphometric data for Hysterothylacium sp. in the state of Piauí, parasitizing fish of commercial importance.