Acta Parasitologica, Vol. 52, No. 2, 2007, 156–164. DOI: 10.2478/s11686-007-0012-5 Juan-Matías Segovia1*, Jordi Torres1, Jordi Miquel1, Enric Sospedra1, Ricardo Guerrero2 and Carlos Feliu1 –
Analysis of helminth communities of the pine marten, Martes martes, in Spain: Mainland and insular data
1Laboratori de Parasitologia, Departament de Microbiologia i Parasitologia Sanitàries, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Joan XXIII s/n, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain; 2Instituto de Zoología Tropical, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central de Venezuela. P. D. Box 47058, Caracas 1041A, Venezuela
*Corresponding author: jmsegovia@ub.edu
ABSTRACT
The present study analyses the helminth communities found in one hundred and two specimens of Martes martes from the
Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Archipelago. The component community is constituted by seventeen helminth species, which
frequency and mean abundance show a bimodal pattern. The set of core species is constituted by the trichurids Pearsonema
plica, Eucoleus aerophilus and Aonchotheca putorii (72.2% of total helminth individuals found), while the remaining can be
considered satellite species. Significant co-occurrences were found among E. aerophilus/A. putorii and E. aerophilus/P. plica.
These results demonstrate the great importance of earthworms within the diet of pine marten and contribute to the knowledge
of the pine marten's food ethology, since this kind of prey normally goes undetected in diet studies. Several helminth species,
as Sobolevingylus petrowi, Centrorhynchus aluconis, Uncinaria criniformis, Mastophorus muris and Spirura rytipleurites seurati
seem to show geographical distributions limited to insular ecosystems. Moreover, helminth communities of M. martes
among four Spanish territories, including mainland and insular areas, are characterized and compared.
KEY WORDS: Helminth community, Martes martes, Mustelidae, Carnivora, insularity, Spain