Taxonomic distinctness and richness of helminth parasite assemblages of freshwater fishes in Mexican hydrological basins.

ABSTRACT: In this paper, we analyse the distributional patterns of adult helminth parasites of freshwater fishes with respect to the main hydrological basins of Mexico. We use the taxonomic distinctness and the variation in taxonomic distinctness to explore patterns of parasite diversity and how these patterns change between zoogeographical regions. We address questions about the factors that determine the variation of observed diversity of helminths between basins. We also investigate patterns of richness, taxonomic distinctness and distance decay of similarity amongst basins. Our analyses suggest that the evolution of the fauna of helminth parasites in Mexico is mostly dominated by independent host colonization events and that intra--host speciation could be a minor factor explaining the origin of

SUBMITTER: Quiroz-Martinez B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3785472 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature