A baseline for aquatic parasite diversity in West African mangroves: host-parasite records, DNA barcodes, and an experimental design for future use
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Macroparasites represent a major fraction of biodiversity and biomass in marine ecosystems, yet remain substantially underrepresented in ecological surveys and food-web models, particularly in the Global South. This study addresses this geographic bias by providing the first comprehensive ecological survey of macroparasite communities of fishes in a West African Marine Protected Area (MPA) and adjacent Open-Access Area (OAA) characterised by mangrove forests. We collected 5,020 parasite specimens from 10 fish and one crab species in the Saloum Delta, Senegal, identifying 27 parasite species across all major taxa. Our findings include 15 new records for Senegal of which 11 are also new for West Africa. Additionally, 64% of host-parasite combinations constitute new host records. We provide 208 DNA barcodes, offering the first molecular data for 31% of these species globally and establishing a reference library for future DNA metabarcoding efforts in the region. Using sample size-corrected biodiversity indices and mixed-model analyses, we detected significant variations in parasite infracommunities and component communities between the MPA and OAA, demonstrating the feasibility of using comparative study designs to monitor fisheries impacts on parasite diversity in the Saloum Delta. Furthermore, the identification of trophically transmitted parasites provided evidence of unstudied food-web connections, e.g. predator-prey linkages between fishes and higher-trophic-level definitive hosts including birds and elasmobranchs. By integrating morphological identification, molecular data, and archiving of voucher specimens into publicly accessible, curated collections, this study establishes a new baseline for marine parasite biodiversity in West Africa and provides a methodological blueprint for surveying understudied regions.
Authors: Armando Jairo Cruz-Laufer, Lucas Van Passel, Oumar Sadio, Farid Dahdouh-Guebas, Ralph Appy, James P. Bernot, Chahinez Bouguerche, Arfang Diamanka, Jesús Hernández-Orts, Nikol Kmentová, Edgar F. Mendoza-Franco, Camila Pantoja, Miriam I. Shigoley, Njord Vangelder, Chelsea L. Wood, Maarten P. M. Vanhove
Institutions: Hasselt University, Ifremer, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin, Université Libre de Bruxelles, University of Connecticut, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Natural History Museum of Geneva, Autonomous University of Campeche, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Biology Centre, University of Washington
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225194131