Comparative Parasitology 67(1) 2000 - Peru State College

130 COMPARATIVE PARASITOLOGY, 67(1), JANUARY 2000
Table 1. Number, prevalence, mean intensity, range, and abundance for helminths collected from Bufo
marinus and Bufo marmoreus from Chamela, Jalisco, Mexico.
Toad species
Helminth species
Bufo marinus (N = 49)
Ochoterenella digiticauda
Rhabdias fuelleborni*
Physaloptera sp. (larvae)*
Unidentified nematode
Centrorhynchus sp. cystacanths
Bufo marmoreus (N = 19)
Aplectana incerta*
Rhabdias fuelleborni*
Physocephalus sp. (encysted larvae)*
Centrorhynchus sp. cystacanths*
New host record.
Number
of
helminths
24
145
184
6
12
848
17
7
1
Site
Codom
Lungs
Stomach
Intestine
Coelom
Intestine
Lung
Coelom
Coelom
ined as temporary wet mounts. Voucher specimens
were deposited in the Coleccion Nacional
de Helmintos (CNHE), IBUNAM, B. marinus:
Ochoterenella digiticauda Caballero y Caballero,
1944 (3775); Rhabdias fuelleborni Travassos,
1926 (3776); Physaloptera sp. (3774), Centrorhynchus
sp. (3777); B. marmoreus: Aplectana
incerta Caballero y Caballero, 1949 (3772), R.
fuelleborni (3771), Physocephalus sp. (3773),
Centrorhynchus sp. (3778). Terminology is in
accordance with Bush et al. (1997).
Four species of nematodes and 1 species of
acanthocephalan were found in B. marinus; 3
species of nematodes and 1 species of acanthocephalan
were found in B. marmoreus. Numbers
of parasites, prevalence, abundance, and sites of
infection are given in Table 1. Bufo marinus harbored
371 helminths. Rhabdias fuelleborni had
the highest prevalence (37%); Physaloptera sp.
(larvae) had the greatest mean intensity (12.3).
Mean number of helminth species per host was
1.0 ± 0.8 SD, mean intensity per host was 8.1
± 15.3 SD. Twelve toads had no parasites, 23
were parasitized by 1 species, 13 had 2 or more
helminth species. Bufo marmoreus harbored 873
helminths. The helminth species with highest
prevalence (63%) and greatest mean intensity
(45) was A. incerta. Mean number of helminth
species per host was 0.9 ± 0.7 SD; mean intensity
per host was 46.0 ± 67.0 SD. Six toads had
no helminths, 9 were parasitized by 1 species,
and 4 had 2 or more species. In B. marinus,
species richness and mean abundance for the
helminth fauna fell within the ranges reported
by Aho (1990) for amphibians in general, i.e., a
Prevalence Mean intensity ± SD
(%) (range)
8
37
31
6
22
63
16
5
5
6.0 ± 6.0
5.4 ± 1.2
12.3
2.0 ± 7.4
1.1 ± 0.3
70.7
5.7
Copyright © 2011, The Helminthological Society of Washington
(3-16)
d-38)
± 18.0 (1-59)
± 42
± 6.4
7
1
(1-4)
(1-2)
(1-250)
(2-13)
Mean
abundance ± SD
0.5 ± 2.4
3.0 ± 6.0
3.8 ± 11.3
0.1 ± 0.6
0.2 ± 0.5
4.47 ± 66.4
0.9 ± 13.0
0.36
0.05
mean species richness per host individual of
0.98 ± 0.07 SE, and a mean abundance of 11.55
± 1.86 SE. However, for B. marmoreus, mean
abundance was much greater, in part because of
the large number of individuals of A. incerta
harbored by a few hosts.
The known helminth fauna for B. marinus in
Mexico is presented in Table 2. This list includes
5 species of trematodes, 1 species of cestode, at
least 13 species of nematodes, and 1 species of
acanthocephalan. Bufo marinus is a new host
and locality record for Rhabdias fuelleborni and
Physaloptera sp. Bufo marmoreus is a new host
and locality record for A. incerta, R. fuelleborni,
Physocephalus sp., and cystacanths of Centrorhynchus
sp.
None of the parasites found in this study was
unique to B. marinus or B. marmoreus; all are
shared with other amphibian or reptile species
(Baker, 1987). However, 3 of these species, A.
incerta, O. digiticauda, and R. fuelleborni, are
typically found in toads. Aplectana incerta was
originally described by Caballero y Caballero
(1949) from B. marinus collected in Chiapas
State, Mexico, and was subsequently reported
from Bufo debilis Girard, 1854, Bufo retifonnis
Sanders and Smith, 1951, Scaphiopus couchii
Baird, 1854, and Spea multiplicata Cope, 1863,
from Arizona and New Mexico, U.S.A. (Goldberg
and Bursey, 1991; Goldberg et al., 1995;
Goldberg et al., 1996). Ochoterenella digiticauda
is a common parasite of B. marinus in Costa
Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and Jamaica (Brenes
and Bravo-Hollis, 1959; Wong and Bundy,
1985). Rhabdias fuelleborni is a neotropical spe-