Metazoan and protozoan parasites of freshwater ornamental fish from Brazil.

Annually, 27 million of freshwater ornamental fish have been exported from Brazil for international trade, mainly to the United States and Europe. Most of these fish are originated from Amazonian basin, especially from the states of Amazonas (25.0 million/year) and Pará (1.0 million/year). Small quantity of these fish is from culture. Paracheirodon axelrodi (18 million/year) is the main fish exported, followed by Otocinclus affinis (1.4 million/year), Hemigrammus bleheri (1.1 million/year) and Paracheirodon simulans (0.88 million/year). Ornamental fish exported from Brazil have parasites that are also reported in hosts from the other countries. Parasitic infections represent an important challenge for commercial suppliers of ornamental fish. On this view, low number of parasites may evolve to undesirable and dangerous number compromising the fish health