Helminth parasites of the Eurasian otterLutra lutrain southwest Europe

Abstract

The helminth fauna in 109 Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra L.) from France, Portugal and Spain was analysed, together with 56 faecal samples collected in Portugal and 23 fresh stools from otters included in a reintroduction programme. Seven helminth species were found in L. lutra in southwest Europe: Phagicola sp. (Trematoda), Aonchotheca putorii, Eucoleus schvalovoj, Strongyloides lutrae, Anisakis (third stage larvae) and Dirofilaria immitis (Nematoda), and Gigantorhynchus sp. (Acanthocephala). Eucoleus schvalovoj was the dominant species throughout southwest Europe. Strongyloides lutrae was significantly more prevalent in the Iberian Peninsula than in France. Apart from these two dominant nematodes and A. putorii, the other helminth species were incidental parasites of L. lutra in southwest Europe. The helminth fauna of L. lutra in southwest Europe is, in general, poorer than that reported in eastern Europe and in all other aquatic mustelids in southwest Europe. Phagicola specimens are reported for the first time in a non-marine wild carnivore in Europe. The prevalences of E. schvalovoj and S. lutrae obtained by necropsy were higher than those observed by coprological analysis using a formalin-ether concentration method (Ritchie). Nevertheless, the culture of fresh faeces appears to be the best method to study infection of L. lutra by Strongyloides.

The Carriage of Larval Echinococcus Multilocularis and Other Cestodes by the Musk Rat (Ondatra Zibethicus) Along the Ourthe River and Its Tributaries (Belgium)

“…Several species of Mustelidae harbor the adult stage of T. martis: the Siberian polecat (Mustela eversmanii) in Belarus (Shimalov and Shimalov, 2002) and East Germany (Schuster et al, 1988), the otter (Lutra lutra) in East Germany (Schuster et al, 1988), and the stone marten (Martes foina) in different parts of Germany (Loos-Frank and Zeyhle, 1982;Schuster et al, 1988), in Switzerland (Zimmerli, 1982), and in Spain (Torres et al, 2004). The stone marten is an important final host of T. martis.…”

Molecular characterization of Dirofilaria spp. circulating in Portugal

“…Additionally, in a national serological survey conducted in red foxes, 8.5% were positive for D. immitis circulating antigen, with positive animals found in northern and southern areas of Portugal [44]. Dirofilaria immitis has also been reported in three Eurasian otters, Lutra lutra , in Portuguese natural freshwater habitats [45, 46] and, recently, in a collection of pinnipeds from Algarve [47]. …”

New data on the parasites of the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra)

“…Outside the borders of Poland, the otter is becoming an increasingly frequent object of parasitological, including mostly helminthological studies (e.g. Shimalov et al 2000, Torres et al 2004, Dmitrova et al 2008). This results from, inter alia, the fact that the increasing number of otters in many water bodies has a strong impact on other animal species (Loy et al 2009, Romanowski et al 2011.…”

“…The nematode has also been found in Poland: in 11 species of amphibians, 5 species of reptiles (Pojmańska et al 2007, Okulewicz et al 2008, and in the brown trout Salmo trutta fario Linnaeus, 1758 (see Popiołek et al 2004, Grabda-Kazubska & Okulewicz 2005. The acanthocephalan A. ranae is a common parasite of amphibians, sometimes also found in reptiles, birds and mammals in Europe and Asia (Petrochenko 1956, Ryzhikov et al 1980, Torres et al 2004, Pojmańska et al 2007, Dimitrova et al 2008. A. ranae was also found in the USA, but this founding is not confirmed (Golvan 1994).…”