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.