Food Habits and Helminth Parasites of Skittering Frog (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis) in the Lower Dir, Pakistan

Abstract

A total of 30 specimens of Skittering frog (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis), (Anura: Dicroglossidae) were captured from seven selected localities in the Dir Lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan from April to August 2016. They were euthanized with the help of Chloroform (CHcl3) solution. The biometry each specimen was measured, then dissected to examine for helminth parasites and foodstuff. All helminths were isolated, washed with normal saline at room temperature, and then preserved in 70% GL ethyl alcohol. Later on, the parasites were classified and studied under the electric compound microscope. In a total of 30 specimens, 17(56.66%) were found infected with 62 helminths parasites belongs to four different species. Among four species, one was Cestodes Nematotaenia dispar species and remaining three were Nematodes i.e. Cosmocerca species, Cosmocercoides (Raillietnema species) and Strongyloides species. Cosmocerca with a percentage of 56.45% was the most dominant. In the total of 30 specimens’ alimentary canal, 10 were found empty, containing nothing while in remaining 20 were full of 9 types of food materials which included insects i.e. Ants, Beetles, Wasps, Spiders, Mosquito larvae and cockroaches, and non-living things like stone pebbles and mollusks shells. Among the serial, flies and snails were in the lowest prevalence and ants were recorded the most important component of the frog diet. Among the insects, ants have occurred in higher prevalence 44.50% and flies 1.15% with the lowest prevalence. The results emphasize the significance of further expected studies in the Dir Lower to get a good understanding of the helminth parasites with the ecological relations of their hosts.