Abstract
Endangered species of hosts are coupled with endangered species of parasites, which share the risk of co-extinction. Conservation efforts sometimes include breeding of rare species in captivity. Data on parasites of captive populations of endangered species is scarce and the ability of small numbers of captive host individuals to support the biodiversity of native parasites is limited. Examination of ectosymbionts of the critically endangered Philippine eagles and the endangered Mindanao Hawk-Eagle kept at the Philippine Eagle Center, Philippines, revealed three feather mite species despite regular treatment with insecticide powder. No other ectosymbiont taxa were detected. Studies in morphology and molecular phylogeny of these feather mites based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers indicate that species found were typical for Accipitridae. Three new pterolichoid feather mite species (Acari: Pterolichoidea) were described from two species of eagles (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae) endemic to the Philippines: Hieracolichus philippinensis sp. n. (Gabuciniidae) and Pseudalloptinus pithecophagae sp. n. (Pterolichidae) from the Great Philippine Eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi Ogilvie-Grant, 1896, and Pseudogabucinia nisaeti sp. n. (Kramerellidae) from the Mindanao Hawk-Eagle Nisaetus pinskeri Gould, 1863. The presence of H. philippinensis on P. jefferyi supports the recent finding that the Great Philippine Eagle belongs to the lineage of serpent eagles (Circaetinae) rather than to the Harpy and other eagles.
Highlights
Parasites represent an important component of the ecosystem (Hudson et al, 2006) and support the diversity of the host populations by exerting selective pressure upon their hosts (Dawkins, 1990; Rózsa, 1992)
We studied the fauna of feather mites found on two eagles endemic to Philippines based on both morphology and molecular phylogenetic analysis
The mite material used in the present study was collected in the Philippine Eagle Center (Davao City, Malagos, The Philippines, 7°11′6.29′′N, 125°24′55.17′′E) from two species of endemic raptors, the Great Philippine Eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi Ogilvie-Grant, 1896 and the Philippine Hawk-Eagle Nisaetus pinskeri Gould, 1863, during annual medical examination of birds by OOT in 2016
Summary
Parasites represent an important component of the ecosystem (Hudson et al, 2006) and support the diversity of the host populations by exerting selective pressure upon their hosts (Dawkins, 1990; Rózsa, 1992). Parasites may negatively affect the natural and captive populations of their hosts threatened with extinction (De Castro and Bolker, 2005; McCallum and Dobson, 1995), and on another hand, these parasites often represent endangered species by themselves (Gomez and Nichols, 2013; Rózsa and Vas, 2014). The latter is especially relevant for host-specific parasites (symbionts), such as many ectosymbionts of birds and mammals that often face co-extinction with their host (Buckley et al, 2012). We tested whether the captive individuals of the Philippine raptors maintained the ectosymbionts and if the ectosymbionts found represented the native fauna of the Philippines eagles studied
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