Acta Parasitologica, Vol. 50, No. 3, 2005, 215-220 Jose L. Luque(1)*, Amanda N. Martins(2) and Luiz E.R. Tavares(3) - Community structure of metazoan parasites of the yellow Cururu toad, Bufo ictericus (Anura, Bufonidae) from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
(1)Departamento de Parasitologia Animal, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Caixa Postal 74508, CEP 23851-970, Seropedica, RJ; (2)Curso de Pos-Graduacno em Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro; (3)Curso de Pos-Graduacno em Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro; Brazil
*Corresponding author: jlluque@ufrrj.com.br
ABSTRACT
Thirty-two specimens of Bufo ictericus (Spix, 1824), 22 males and 10 females, collected in Miguel Pereira, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from April 2002 to August 2003, were examined for presence of metazoan parasites. Thirty-one (97%) specimens of B. ictericus were parasitized by one or more metazoan species. Sixteen species of parasites were collected: 2 digeneans, 13 nematodes, and 1 ixodid tick. The endoparasites represented 82.3% of the total number of parasite specimens collected. Bufo ictericus is a new host record for: Gorgoderina parvicava Travassos, 1922, Oswaldocruzia lopesi Freitas et Lent, 1938, O. mazzai Travassos, 1935, O. subauricularis (Rudolphi, 1819), Oxyascaris sp., Parapharyngodon alvarengai Freitas, 1957, Rhabdias
elegans Gutierrez, 1945 and R. sphaerocephala Goodey, 1924. The digenean Mesocoelium monas (Rudolphi, 1819) was the most abundant species and the ixodid Amblyomma rotundatum (Koch, 1844) was the most prevalent in the parasite community
of B. ictericus. The metazoan parasite species of B. ictericus showed the typical aggregated pattern of distribution of most parasite systems. There was no influence of host weight on parasite abundance and prevalence. Only one parasite species, M. monas, showed an influence of host sex on its abundance and prevalence. One pair of endoparasite species, O. lopesi and M. monas, showed an association in the infracommunities of B. ictericus. As in other parasite communities of Bufo species, the parasite community of B. ictericus was dominated by nematodes.
KEY WORDS: Parasite ecology, metazoan parasites, Anura, Bufonidae, Bufo ictericus, Brazil