Abstract
BackgroundIn the Canary Islands there are no previous data about tapeworms (Cestoda) of rodents. In order to identify the hymenolepidid species present in these hosts, a survey of 1,017 murine (349 Rattus rattus, 13 Rattus norvegicus and 655 Mus musculus domesticus) was carried out in the whole Archipelago. Molecular studies based on nuclear ITS1 and mitochondrial COI loci were performed to confirm the identifications and to analyse the levels of genetic variation and differentiation.ResultsThree species of hymenolepidids were identified: Hymenolepis diminuta, Rodentolepis microstoma and Rodentolepis fraterna. Hymenolepis diminuta (in rats) and R. microstoma (in mice) showed a widespread distribution in the Archipelago, and R. fraterna was the least spread species, appearing only on five of the islands. The hymenolepidids found on Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and La Graciosa were restricted to one area. The COI network of H. diminuta showed that the haplotypes from Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are the most distant with respect to the other islands, but clearly related among them.ConclusionsFounder effects and biotic and abiotic factors could have played important role in the presence/absence of the hymenolepidid species in determined locations. The haplotypes from the eastern islands (Fuerteventura and Lanzarote) seem to have shared an ancestral haplotype very distant from the most frequent one that was found in the rest of the islands. Two colonization events or a single event with subsequent isolation and reduced gene flow between western-central and eastern islands, have taken place in the Archipelago. The three tapeworms detected are zoonotic species, and their presence among rodents from this Archipelago suggests a potential health risk to human via environmental contamination in high risk areas. However, the relatively low prevalence of infestations detected and the focal distribution of some of these species on certain islands reduce the general transmission risk to human.
Highlights
In the Canary Islands there are no previous data about tapeworms (Cestoda) of rodents
Spatial distribution Hymenolepis diminuta and R. microstoma showed a widespread distribution in the Archipelago
It should be noted that R. fraterna, which occurs primarily in Mus, has been found from Apodemus sylvaticus based on a molecular study [13]
Summary
In the Canary Islands there are no previous data about tapeworms (Cestoda) of rodents. In order to identify the hymenolepidid species present in these hosts, a survey of 1,017 murine (349 Rattus rattus, 13 Rattus norvegicus and 655 Mus musculus domesticus) was carried out in the whole Archipelago. 230 and 620 species of hymenolepidids parasitizing mammals and birds, respectively. Some of the hymenolepidid species of rodents are of health interest, since they are zoonotic and can cause severe diseases in immunosuppressed individuals [2,3,4]. The Canary Islands are considered a “hot spot” of biodiversity and endemicity of species, including helminths [5]. The murid rodents Rattus rattus (L., 1758), Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769) and Mus musculus domesticus L., 1758 have been introduced to the Canary Islands. The climate varies according to altitude of the islands.
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