A baseline for aquatic parasite diversity in West African mangroves: host-parasite records, DNA barcodes, and an experimental design for future use

A survey in the Saloum Delta, Senegal, collected 5,020 parasite specimens from 10 fish and one crab species and identified 27 macroparasite species.

• Why it matters: Macroparasites are under-sampled in ecological surveys and models, especially across the Global South, leaving a geographic gap in baseline diversity data for mangrove-associated fish communities.
• What they did: The team combined morphological identification with DNA barcoding, generating 208 DNA barcodes and providing the first molecular data for 31% of species, then compared MPA versus OAA using sample size-corrected indices and mixed-model analyses.
• The result: Parasite infracommunities and component communities differed significantly between the MPA and OAA, and 64% of host-parasite combinations were new host records, enabling future monitoring and metabarcoding in the region.

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