Helminth Community Structure of Three Sigmodontine Rodents in the Atlantic Forest, Southern Brazil

Abstract

Ecological studies of host-parasite interactions are common in rodents. However, despite the widespread occurrence of endoparasites in those animals, there is a lack of information about the community structure of these parasites. The aims of this study were to describe the species composition and the community structure of helminths of the rodents Oligoryzomys nigripes, Akodon montensis and Euryoryzomys russatus (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae), and to investigate the influence of host species, age and gender on the abundance and prevalence of helminths. The pattern of the metacommunity structure of the helminths of A. montensis was also analysed. Small mammals were captured in Serra do Tabuleiro State Park, Santo Amaro da Imperatriz, state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Helminths were identified and counted. Each species had its abundance, intensity and prevalence estimated for each host. The influence of host species, age and gender on abundance and prevalence of helminths was tested using generalized linear models (GLM). The metacommunity was analysed by calculating the Elements of Metacommunity Structure (EEM) for infracommunities. In O. nigripes, the species Guerrerostrongylus zetta and Stilestrongylus lanfrediae (Nematoda, Heligmonellidae) were found. A. montensis harboured G. zetta, Trichofreitasia lenti (Nematoda, Heligmonellidae), Trichuris navonae (Nematoda, Trichuridae), Angiostrongylus sp. (Nematoda, Angiostrongylidae), Litomosoides chagasfilhoi (Nematoda, Onchocercidae) and Rodentolepis akodontis (Plathyhelmintes, Cestoda). In the E. russatus rodent, the species G. zetta, Stilestrongylus rolandoi (Nematoda, Heligmonellidae) and Raillietina guaricanae (Plathyhelmintes, Cestoda) were found. This study presented new records of the helminths S. rolandoi and R. guaricanae in E. russatus, and of L. chagasfilhoi in A. montensis. The helminth metacommunity structure of A. montensis presented a random pattern of species distribution, characterized by a non-coherent structure along the environmental gradient, indicating different environmental requirements due to the infection of this host by helminths with different life cycles.

Helminths of sigmodontine rodents in an agroforestry mosaic in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: Patterns and processes of the metacommunity structure

“…The genus Syphacia was observed for this host by Kuhnen et al (2012) . Other helminth species reported for this host were Guerrerostrongylus zetta (Travassos 1937), Guerrerostrongylus gomesae , Guerrerostrongylus ulysi, Hassalstrongylus luquei, Raillietina guaricana, Syphacia sp., Tapinorema coronatum, and the subfamily Nipostrongylinae ( Boullosa et al, 2020 ; Costa et al, 2014 ; Kersul et al, 2020 ; Panisse et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Despite this, there is still a large gap concerning the helminth community structure of wild rodents, as well as the mechanisms that influence the diversity of these parasites. In Brazil, recent studies on helminth metacommunities of wild rodents have been conducted in the Atlantic Forest ( Boullosa et al, 2020 ; Cardoso et al, 2018 ) and in the Cerrado ( Costa et al, 2019 ) using EMS analysis. The mechanistic approach was used in a helminth metacommunity of small mammals in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest ( Cardoso et al, 2020 ); helminths of marsupials were also studied using the pattern-based approach in Brazil ( Cirino et al, 2022 ; Costa-Neto et al, 2019 ).…”

Gleasonian structure in the helminth metacommunity of the opossumDidelphis albiventrisin two extremes of the Atlantic Forest

“…tentaculata in female hosts contradict the typical pattern and may indicate a larger exposure or susceptibility of females to this species. Other studies have recorded higher helminth infection rates in female small mammals (Simões et al ., 2014; Cardoso et al ., 2019; Boullosa et al ., 2020; Kersul et al ., 2020). Regarding host age, C .…”

Rodent helminths in fragmented Atlantic Forest areas in the western region of the state of Paraná

“…The species P. numidicola criceticola has been found in several hosts, including carnivores (Stein et al, 1994) and rodents (Quentin, 1971;Sutton, 1989;Miño, 2008;Simões et al, 2010). Trichofreitasia lenti nematodes and R. akodontis cestodes were previously found to parasitize A. montensis in Argentina (Panisse et al, 2017), and Oligoryzomys nigripes in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil (Boullosa et al, 2019).…”

“…Trichuris navonae has been described as parasitizing A. montensis in the Missiones Province, Argentina (Robles, 2011), and in Santa Catarina by Boullosa et al (2019). Digiani & Durette-Desset (2007) reported, for the first time, the species S. gracielae parasitizing Phyllotis sp.…”