Ectoparasites from some Myocastor coypus (Molina, 1782) populations (Coypus or Nutria) in Argentina

Abstract

The occurrence of ectoparasites in wild nutria is poorly understood. Fifty-five livetrapped wild nutria (Myocastor coypus) from its indigenous region were examined for ectoparasites after capture from December 2013 to December 2014. The captures came from the Buenos Aires Province, by far the area of the country most densely populated by nutria, characterized as a temperate grassland, which are prime areas for sustained agriculture. Only one species of chewing lice (Pitrufquenia coypus, Marelli, 1932), one flea (Nosopsyllus fasciatus, Bosc, 1800) and one tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Latreille, 1806) were collected. Fourteen percent of the animals were infested and P.coypus, an obligate parasite of the nutria, which was the most prevalent ectoparasite. N. fasciatus and R. sanguineus occurrence remains controversial as they may or may not be some accidental host species. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive and systematic survey of ectoparasites in wild nutria from the southern hemisphere, the indigenous region of this species.

Cryptosporidium myocastoris n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Cryptosporidiidae), the Species Adapted to the Nutria (Myocastor coypus)

“…Feral nutrias occur on all continents, and they are included as one of the Top 100 Invasive Alien Species of Union Concern in Europe [16]. Parasites of wild, feral, and farmed nutrias are poorly studied [17][18][19], and there have been only four reports of Cryptosporidium infections.…”

First Worldwide Evidence of Bronchopulmonary Strongyle Nematodes and the First Report on Italy of Cryptosporidium sp. in Allochthonous Nutria (Myocastor coypus)

“…On the other hand, autochthonous parasites can represent an enemy for invasive species, since in some cases they are able to impede or limit their spreading, thus becoming an important resource for ecosystem communities [3,5]. Nutria's pathogens (i.e., endo-and ectoparasites, viruses, and bacteria) have been extensively studied worldwide both in the wild and in captivity, by analyzing fecal, histological, cellular, blood, and other biological matrices and by macroscopic examinations of carcasses (e.g., [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]).…”