PREVALENCE AND ABUNDANCE OF Contracaecum sp. OF RUBIO Salminus affinis IN SINU AND SAN JORGE RIVERS: MORFOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION

Objective. To determine the presence of internal parasites of gender Anisakidae that infest to Salminus affinis (Rubio) in the natural enviroment. Materials and methods. Through out dissection and inspection of the viscera and the abdominal cavity 45 Salminus affinis specimenes from Sinu (n = 34) and San Jorge (n = 11) rivers (Córdoba, Colombia) were analyzed. Results. Larvae L3 of nematodes of the genus Contracaecum (Nematode: Anisakidae) were found in the visceral cavity in both rivers. The prevalence of this nematode in the two studied rivers was greater than 95%. Conclusions. The results of the present work allow to conclude that the Salminus affinis fishes of the Sinú and San Jorge rivers present a degree of low infestation of the anisakido Contracaecum sp; which is located in the digestive tract and fatty mesenteric in larval state third (L3).