Distribution of the acanthocephalan Neoechinorhynchus buttnerae and semiquantitative analysis of histopathological damage in the intestine of tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum).

In this paper, we have described for the first time a semiquantitative method to evaluate histopathological damage, taking the degree of Neoechinorhynchus buttnerae attachment to the intestinal wall of the tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum), an important species in Brazilian aquaculture, into account. Twelve specimens of tambaqui were collected from a fish farm. Their bowels were removed and divided into seven morphologically distinct portions according to density and distribution of the parasite studies.