Abstract
Antarctophthirus microchir is a sucking louse species belonging to the family Echinophthiriidae and has been reported to parasitize all species of the subfamily Otariinae, the sea lions. Former studies on this ectoparasite mainly required fixation, immobilization, or death of host species and especially examinations of adult male sea lions are still very rare. Between March and May 2018, adult individuals of a unique “urban” bachelor group of South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens) living directly in the city of Valdivia, Chile, were studied regarding their ectoparasite infestation status. For first time, a non-invasive method in the form of a lice comb screwed on a telescopic rod and grounded with adhesive tape was used for sample taking process. Overall, during combing different stages of A. microchir were detected in 4/5 O. flavescens individuals, especially at the junction between the back and hind flippers. Our findings represent the first report of A. microchir infesting individuals of this synanthropic colony and fulfilling complete life cycle in a sea lion group despite inhabiting freshwater and in absence of females/pups. Our “telescopic lice comb apparatus” offers a new strategy to collect different stages of ectoparasites and a range of epidermal material, such as fur coat hair and superficial skin tissue for a broad spectrum of research fields in wildlife sciences in an unmolested and stress reduced manner.
Highlights
Antarctophthirus microchir is a member of the family Echinophthiriidae belonging to the suborder Anoplura, the Section Editor: Boris R
The South American sea lion shows a wide geographical occurrence commonly ranging along the Pacific coast of Peru and Chile, the Atlantic coast of Southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and on the Falkland Islands (Vaz-Ferreira 1982)
These polygynous marine mammals live in distinct social structures including harems or bachelor colonies (Cárdenas-Alayza 2017)
Summary
Antarctophthirus microchir is a member of the family Echinophthiriidae belonging to the suborder Anoplura, the Section Editor: Boris R. The South American sea lion shows a wide geographical occurrence commonly ranging along the Pacific coast of Peru and Chile, the Atlantic coast of Southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and on the Falkland Islands (Vaz-Ferreira 1982) These polygynous marine mammals live in distinct social structures including harems or bachelor colonies (Cárdenas-Alayza 2017). The Chilean city Valdivia is located approximately 15 km east of the Pacific Ocean and since the late 1970s this city has been harboring a synanthropic bachelor group of O. flavescens (Schlatter 1976)—a unique Burban^ colony of sea lions, which represents the only colony worldwide permanently living in a freshwater habitat. A parasitological investigation on the endoparasite fauna of this sea lion colony was carried out and several protozoan and metazoan taxa bearing zoonotic potential [i.e., Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Neobalantidium (former Balantidium; Mathison and Pritt 2019), Diphyllobothriidae gen. sp., Anisakidae gen. sp.) were detected (Hermosilla et al 2016a)
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