Helminthic infection in three native rodent species from a semiarid Mediterranean ecosystem.

Andrea Yáñez-Meza,Nicol Quiroga,Carlos Landaeta-Aqueveque,Carezza Botto-Mahan

doi:10.1590/s1984-29612019014

Abstract

Helminth parasites are still not a well-known component of animal biodiversity. In this study, we describe and compare the endoparasite assemblages of three native rodent species from a semiarid Mediterranean ecosystem. A total of eight species of gastrointestinal helminth parasites were detected. The endoparasitic communities of the rodents Phyllotis darwini (5 species), Octodon degus (4 species), and Abrothrix olivaceus (3 species) were described in terms of their prevalence and mean abundance. In addition, endoparasite records by rodent species were submitted to rarefaction analyses to verify sampling robustness and used to compare richness and similarity among rodent species. O. degus presented the highest prevalence and parasitic load, but was of low diversity, while P. darwini presented the highest diversity, but had a low prevalence rate. Conversely, A. olivaceus presented the lowest prevalence and diversity. This study contributes to the existing knowledge of the endoparasitic fauna of rodent species from semiarid Mediterranean zones.

Highlights

In Chile, mastozoological research has primarily concentrated on small mammal species (Muridae, Octodontidae, and Didelphidae), but studies on their helminth fauna have been poorly addressed (COFRÉ & VILINA, 2008)
Helminth species were consistently detected in specific digestive tract sections: Heteroxynema chiliensis in the caecum and colon; Helminthoxys gigantea, Syphacia phyllotios, and Trichuris bradleyi in the caecum; Pterygodermatites (Paucipectines) sp. in the small intestine and Gongylonema sp. in the stomach; and Litomosoides pardinasi and Acanthocheilonema sp. outside the digestive tract
By means of an extensive and intensive collection covering a long sampling period (2008–2013), we processed and identified helminths found in three native rodent species from a semiarid Mediterranean zone of Chile and described their gastrointestinal endoparasite assemblages

Summary

Introduction

In Chile, mastozoological research has primarily concentrated on small mammal species (Muridae, Octodontidae, and Didelphidae), but studies on their helminth fauna have been poorly addressed (COFRÉ & VILINA, 2008). Helminthology research on rodents began more than a century ago (POUPIN, 1897); articles on this topic are scarce, most of which have adopted a taxonomic approach (ÁLVAREZ, 1960; DENKE & MURÚA, 1977; ALCAÍNO & GORMAN, 1990) and only occasionally provided a description of the ecological background (CATTAN et al, 1992; LANDAETA-AQUEVEQUE et al, 2018). The study of the quantitative traits of the parasitic communities of native rodent species, in localities with low impacts of introduced or invasive species, enables the generation of.

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