First report of cestode infection in the crustaceanArtemia persimilisfrom Southern Chilean Patagonia and its relation with the Neotropical aquatic birds

Abstract

The brine shrimp genusArtemiaLeach (Crustacea, Branchiopoda), a keystone group in hipersaline wetlands all over the world, offers an excellent model to study species interactions (parasitism) and to explore “hidden fauna” (avian endoparasites). The present study is the first report on the parasite infection of the South American speciesArtemia persimilisfrom the Southern Chilean Patagonia (50°S–53°S). Samples were collected in Los Cisnes and Amarga lagoons, the two most austral populations of this crustacean described to date, during two seasons (spring and autumn). A total of 98 larvae of cestodes of the family Hymenolepididae (Cestoda, Cyclophyllidea) were found and identified as belonging to the following taxa:Confluaria podicipina(adult parasitic in grebes),Flamingolepissp. (a cestode parasite of flamingos),Fimbriarioides(?) sp. (adults of the species of this genus infect waterfowl and shorebirds) andWardiumsp. (definitive host unknown, most probably charadriiform birds). This is a new geographical record ofC. podicipinaand the genusFimbriarioidesfor the Neotropical Region, the latter being the most widely distributed species at both localities and seasons surveyed, and the only species recorded in autumn (April). Cestode community composition in Los Cisnes population was characterised by dominance ofFlamingolepissp., representing more than 65% of the total cestode species recorded, whereas in the Amarga population the most abundant parasite (>83%) wasFimbriarioides(?) sp. Significant seasonal variations were detected in Los Cisnes lagoon forFlamingolepissp. andC. podicipina, with exclusive presence of them in spring (November). Besides providing novel information on cestodes infection inA. persimilis,this study provides new data on the life cycle of cestodes of Neotropical aquatic birds such as South American flamingos and grebes. Our finding expands the knowledge on the biodiversity and population dynamics of extreme and unique environments from high latitudes (Patagonia) and makes evident the need of further taxonomical and ecological studies for better understanding the life cycles of avian helminth parasites in the Neotropics and the role of aquatic invertebrates in them.

Explaining Variation in Abundance and Species Diversity of Avian Cestodes in Brine Shrimps in the Salar de Atacama and Other Chilean Wetlands

“…In the South (Chilean Patagonia, Region of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica), we sampled three lagoons: Amarga lagoon (AMA) at 80 m.a.s.l. in Última Esperanza Province, and Los Cisnes lagoon (CIS) (Natural Monument) and La Sal lagoon (LLS) both situated in northern Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost distribution of Artemia [15,35]. Only one species of flamingo (the Chilean flamingo) is abundant in Patagonia.…”

“…We found no Artemia at LLS since it was dry when visited (Table S1). Details of the prevalence and abundance of cestodes for this region and the spatio-temporal dynamics of the infection were previously presented [15] and are not repeated here, but data are used for new analyses (see details in Section 2.5). Data from CIS, the southernmost extreme distribution for A. persimilis, and AMA presented in the previous paper are used here to allow a global view of the cestode biodiversity using Artemia host in Chile and its relation with waterbirds.…”

“…Despite recent efforts to extend parasitological data on cestodes from different hosts at a global scale [13], the diversity and life cycles of this group of parasites in South America remain poorly known [10,[14][15][16]. How cestode communities in Artemia are spatially distributed, and how ecological factors can shape variation in species richness, taxonomic composition, and infection levels, remains unclear.…”

“…Given the migratory habits of birds and the limited hydroperiod of certain wetlands, parasite populations may be more affected by season than latitude. Previous studies in the Palaearctic indicate that the composition of cestode communities in Artemia is strongly dependent on the local abundance of their avian final hosts [15,[18][19][20], however, knowledge is limited for the southern hemisphere [15,16].…”

“…Two sexual Artemia species are reported: A. franciscana Kellogg, 1906 widely distributed in the American continent (from Canada to 35 • S in the South Cone of South America) and A. persimilis Piccinelli and Prosdocimi, 1968 restricted to the south of Chile and Argentina [23][24][25][26], providing a valuable system to study how parasite distributions vary in and among geographical locations and between congeners. The present study aims to identify the main drivers of local diversity of cestodes in A. franciscana from hypersaline wetlands from northern (Atacama Desert) and central Chile (latitude 23 • -34 • S) and compare the results with those for A. persimilis from southern Chile (latitude 50 • S) (see also [15]).…”