Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 75 (4): 835-839, 2002
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Parasite body volume and infracommunity patterns in the southern pomfret Brama
australis (Pisces: Bramidae)
The patterns of infracommunity descriptors (diversity, dominance, abundance) are
compared when calculated with the number and body volume of the parasites in a sample of 26 southern pomfrets Brama
australis collected in the area off Talcahuano, Chile. No numerical infracommunity descriptor was correlated with its
corresponding volumetric descriptor. This single result casts doubts about the general validity of the infracommunity patterns described
in the literature so far, because they are almost exclusively based on the number of parasite individuals per individual host, restricting
communication with ecologists that use density or other measures of ecological abundance.
Key words:
parasite body volume,
infracommunity patterns, host body size, Brama australis, Chile
