The Mogi-Guaçu River raises in the state of Minas Gerais, in the city of Bom Repouso, Serra da Mantiqueira. Its waters through the central region and northeastern state of São Paulo, until Pardo River, which is a tributary of the Grande River. The Mogi-Guaçu basin comprises an area of 14.463 km2 in 40 municipalities with a population of 1.5 million in two states (São Paulo and Minas Gerais). The biodiversity of fish species in Mogi Guaçu River is significant and is relatively well studied in relation to other basins of Brazil. This fish biodiversity originated a series of parasitological studies between 1928-1985, with helminth parasite records for at least 45 species of fish. Based on these studies and through additional collections will be carry out an extensive study to quantify fish parasite communities in order to detect variability quantitative patterns of composition and its diversity. These studies of parasitic ecology may provide subsidies for other researchs on environmental management, conservation and biotic integrity of the basin, considering the importance of parasites as key components of biodiversity.  Currently,  the following host species were examined for parasites: Apareiodon affinis, Astyanax altiparanae, A. fasciatus, Bergiaria sp., Harttia sp., Hypostomus ancistroides, Leporinus elongatus, L. friderici, L. macrocephalus, Leporinus obtudisens, Piaractus mesopotamicus, Pimelodus heraldoi, P. maculatus, Prochilodus lineatus, Pterygoplichthys sp., Salminus brasiliensis, Serrasalmus sp.

This Project is part of the research agreement between UFRRJ and the Centro de Pesquisa e Gestão de Recursos Pesqueiros Continentais (CEPTA), Chico Mendes Institute for biodiversity conservation.

The Pantanal wetland, the greatest floodplain of the world, is an ecosystem with approx. 250.000 km², located in southern State of Mato Grosso and northeastern State of Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil, also includes northern Paraguay and eastern Bolivia (Chaco). Part of this region is considered a World heritage and biosphere reserve for UNESCO. This region is influenced by rivers from Paraguay River basin, with high fish biodiversity and abundance.  This project is carrying out in the PARNA (Parque Nacional do Pantanal Matogrossense), State of Mato Grosso. To date, the following hosts were examined for parasites: Ageneiosus brevifilis, Brycon microlepis, Leporinus friderici, L. macrocephalus, Piaractus mesopotamicus, Pinirampus pinirampu, Plagioscion ternetzi, Prochilodus lineatus, Pseudoplatystoma corruscans, Pygocentrus nattereri, Salminus brasiliensis, Zungaro jahu.

This Project is part of the research agreement between UFRRJ and the Centro de Pesquisa e Gestão de Recursos Pesqueiros Continentais (CEPTA), Chico Mendes Institute for biodiversity conservation.

The Araguaia is one of the major rivers of Brazil, and the principal tributary of the Tocantins. It has a total length of approximately 2,627 km. Along its course, the river forms the border between the Brazilian federal states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Tocantins and Pará. Roughly in the middle of its course, the Araguaia splits into two forks (with the western one retaining the name Araguaia and the eastern one being called Rio Javaés). These later reunite, forming the Ilha do Bananal, the world´s largest river island. The combined watershed of Araguaia and Tocantins rivers (named the Araguaia-Tocantins Basin) covers approximately 9.5% of Brazil´s national territory. This area is an integral part of the Amazon Basin, however, the Araguaia River is not a tributary of the Amazon. This is a region with high fish biodiversity, nevertheless, parasitological records are very scarce. To date, we are studying the parasites of the following fish species: Arapaima gigas, Brachyplatystoma filamentosum, Cichla temensis, Osteoglossum bicirrhosum, Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum, Phractocephalus hemioliopterus, Prochilodus nigricans, Hoplias malabaricus, Sorubimichthys planiceps, Sorubim lima, Chaetobranchus flavescens.

This Project is part of a research agreement between UFRRJ and the Centro de Pesquisa e Gestão de Recursos Pesqueiros Continentais (CEPTA), Chico Mendes Institute for biodiversity conservation. 

The Guandu River is located in the State of Rio de Janeiro. It is considered of great importance to this state, because of its treated waters supplied 80 of the potable water required for the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. The Guandu River provides water for 80 of the population of metropolitan Rio de Janeiro. Despite all the problems, the Rio Guandu characterizes himself as a river system that holds an important diversity of fish. Recent sampling has shown that, in spite of the problems of pollution, there is a very diverse fish parasite fauna. To date, more than 20 host species were examined for parasites. José Luis Luque (Coordinator), Vanessa D. Abdallah, Rodney K. Azevedo, Adriano R. Carvalho, Daniele F. Rosim. Support: CNPq, FAPERJ.

In recent decades, there was the emergence of new trends in marine fish parasitology: 1) the study and determination of larval stages with zoonotic potential, 2) the use of parasites of fish as biological indicators to determine different populations of marine fish of commercial importance, 3) analysis of the parasite ecology, including studies of population dynamics and structure of parasitic communities, and 4) study of parasitism as limiting factor in activities of cultivation. There is high fish diversity in Brazil, mainly on the coastal zone of the Southeastern Region, nevertheless, the number of species with parasitological records is very low compared to the number of fish species recorded in this region. Additionally, the presence of parasites of fish with impact on public health is scarcy studied in Brazil. It is expected at the end of the project to increase of the number of parasite known species in marine fishes from RJ; detect patterns in the composition and structure of fish parasite communities and determine the presence of fish food-borne parasites.  To date, we was studied 60 fish species from the coastal zone of the State of Rio de Janeiro.

José Luis Luque (Coordinator),  Rodney K. Azevedo, Vanessa D. Abdallah. Marcelo Oliva (Universidad de Antofagasta, Chile), Maria T. Gonzalez (Universidad de Antofagasta, Chile), Juan Tomás Timi (Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina).