Abstract
The similarity between parasites communities' decay with distance and its analysis may explain important ecological process such host dispersion. Patagonia is inhabited by two armadillo species, Chaetophractus villosus and Zaedyus pichiy. In this study we describe and analyze the variation on helminth fauna of these armadillos in Patagonia compared with northern localities described in previous studies. A total of 49 armadillos were collected in Patagonia. Quantitative descriptors of parasite ecology were calculated and community structure of helminths was analyzed following the central-satellite species hypothesis. The parasite richness in Patagonia decreases almost 50% in both armadillos. Zaedyus pichiy present the same central species in Patagonia as in northern localities. For C. villosus central-satellite species analysis could not be applied. The loss of some helminths in Z. pichiy could be the result of lower temperatures or the absence of intermediate arthropods hosts. But in C. villosus the absence of some helminths with Patagonian distribution could be explained by its recent dispersion in Patagonia. Trichohelix tuberculata still being the only helminth in C. villosus introduced population of Tierra del Fuego.
Highlights
Parasite diversity in vertebrates depends mainly on host exposure to parasites, which is strongly related to morphological traits, habits and environmental factors (Krasnov et al 2004, Ezenwa et al 2006, Luque & Poulin 2008)
Southern Patagonia comparable to that analyzed in the northern localities (Ezquiaga 2013)? (2) If variation exists, are parasites indicators of the recent colonization of C. villosus in centralsouthern Patagonia? (3) Helminth fauna of the C. villosus introduced population of Tierra del Fuego have changed in the last 5 years? The objective of this study is to answer these questions by describing and analyzing the variation on helminth fauna of both armadillo species of central and southern Patagonia
The highest values of mean intensity and mean abundance were for the helminth T. tuberculata, A. fasciata and A. scoleciformis in C. villosus and both Aspidodera species in Z. pichiy
Summary
Parasite diversity in vertebrates depends mainly on host exposure to parasites, which is strongly related to morphological traits, habits and environmental factors (Krasnov et al 2004, Ezenwa et al 2006, Luque & Poulin 2008). Parasite richness is the result of parasite life-history, host ecology and host defenses (Bush et al 1997) In this context, numerous studies considered that latitude is one of the main factors correlated to parasite diversity and richness (Poulin 1995, Krasnov et al 2004, Nunn et al 2005, Lindenfors et al 2007, Poulin & Leung 2011). Natural dispersion or introduction of hosts into new areas results in loss, transference or acquisition of their parasites (Lafferty et al 2010). In this context, Lymbery et al (2014) proposed using the terminology of co-introduced for
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