The Trematode Fauna of Two Intercontinental Migrants: Tringa solitaria and Calidris melanotos (Aves: Charadriiformes)

Abstract

A total of 197 solitary sandpipers Tringa solitaria and 213 pectoral sandpipers Calidris melanotos were examined for trematodes from the hosts' tropical winter range in Ecuador, South America, during the autumn and spring migrations from Louisiana and South Dakota in the United States, and from the breeding grounds of the solitary sandpiper in Ontario, Canada. Of the 13 trematode species recorded, five were common to both hosts: Tanaisiafedtschenkoi, Cyclocoelum obscurum, Paramonostomum sp., Leucochloridium variae and Zonorchis microrchis. Of the remaining eight species, Cyclocoelum brasilianum, Plagiorchis maculosus, Stephanoprora denticulata and Eurytrema lubens occurred in solitary sandpipers while Cyclocoelum tringae, Plagiorchis elegans, Echinoparyphium speotyto and Echinoparyphium aconiatum were found only in pectoral sandpipers. Trematodes from the digestive tract were usually of low prevalence and intensity, whereas those from other sites were of higher prevalence and ubiquitous in geographical distribution. None of the collecting localities was the major source of trematode infection. Despite the hosts' different breeding ecology and feeding habits, their trematode faunas were similar.