First report of Perulernaea gamitanae in the hybrid pacotana (Piaractus brachypomus x Colossoma macropomum), cultivated in the Ucayali region, Peru

The objective of the present study was to determine the presence of the ectoparasite copepod Perulernaea gamitanae and the parasitic indices in adult specimens of the hybrid pacotana (Piaractus brachypomus x Colossoma macropomum). The ectoparasites were collected from a polyculture in an earthen pond of the Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonia Peruana (IIAP), in the Ucayali region. Necropsy was carried out on ten individuals of pacotana to make the ichthyparasitological analysis of the surface of the body and internal part of the oral cavity. The registered copepods were quantified and fixed in alcohol at 70% concentration. 110 individuals of P. gamitanae were recorded on the tongue and gills of the pacotana specimens. The prevalence was 100%, the mean intensity was 11 parasites / infested fish, the mean abundance was 11 parasites / fish, with a range of intensity from 6 to 17 parasites / fish. In this way, this is the first record of P. gamitanae in the hybrid pacotana and the third in the culture of Amazonian fishes in Peru.