Checklist of Helminth parasites of Amphibians from South America

Abstract

Parasitological studies on helminths of amphibians in South America have increased in the past few years. Here, we present a list with summarized data published on helminths of South American amphibians from 1925 to 2012, including a list of helminth parasites, host species, and geographic records. We found 194 reports of helminths parasitizing 185 amphibian species from eleven countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Equador, French Guyana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Helminth biodiversity includes 278 parasite species of the groups Acanthocephala, Nematoda, Cestoda, Monogenea and Trematoda. A list of helminth parasite species per host, and references are also presented. This contribution aims to document the biodiversity of helminth parasites in South American amphibians, as well as identify gaps in our knowledge, which in turn may guide subsequent studies.

Helminth fauna of Leptodactylus syphax (Anura: Leptodactylidae) from Caatinga biome, northeastern Brazil

“…The presence of cystacanths in cavities suggests that L. syphax can be considered to be an intermediate or paratenic host, such Campião et al (2014) that this helminth was acquired through ingestion of arthropods. Some species of Acanthocephala are found in amphibians: in most cases, the cystacanths adhered to the mesentery for transportation by an anuran from an aquatic intermediary host to an aquatic predatory bird, for example (KENNEDY, 2006).…”

“…On the other hand, the species of this group have wide distribution and occupy different habitats, which can influence component communities of related parasites (GOATER & GOATER, 2001). However, there is only one record of a helminth parasite associated with L. syphax: the nematode Aplectana sp., which was reported from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil (CAMPIÃO et al, 2014).…”

“…Considering the richness of anuran species in Brazil -around 1026 species (SEGALLA et al, 2014;FROST, 2015) -the number of helminth species is expected to be higher. In the Caatinga biome, located in northeastern Brazil, there are approximately 53 anuran species, and most of them have an unknown helminth fauna (ALBUQUERQUE et al, 2012;CAMPIÃO et al, 2014). One of these species is Leptodactylus syphax (Bokermann, 1969), which is distributed across central, southeastern and northeastern Brazil, eastern Bolivia and southern Paraguay, occupying open areas and rocky outcrops, in rock or termite cavities.…”

Helminths of the Lizard Salvator merianae (Squamata, Teiidae) in the Caatinga, Northeastern Brazil

“…Possibly, amphibians may also represent a group of intermediate hosts for these helminthes, since it is common to find larval forms of Physaloptera sp. in anurans from South America (Campiao et al, 2014).…”

“…Nematodes of the genus Physaloptera Rudolphi, 1819 are heteroxenous and occur in the stomachs of various vertebrates (Anderson, 2000), especially reptiles and amphibians in South America Campiao et al, 2014). Salvator merianae has been well reported as a host for the nematodes of the family Physalopteridae in Brazil, as follow: P. bainae (Pereira et al, 2014); P. lutzi (Brito et al, 2014b); P. retusa , and P. tupinambae (Pereira et al, 2012).…”