Many parasites living in aquatic ecosystems are useful indicators of environmental health. 28 However, information is yet scarce with respect to helminth parasites of vertebrates living in 29 terrestrial ecosystems as monitoring tools for toxic element environmental pollution. The 30 present study evaluates the suitability of the model Talpa occidentalis / Ityogonimus spp. as 31 a bioindicator system for mercury (Hg), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) contamination in 32 agricultural soils from Asturias (Spain). Thirty-six T. occidentalis specimens (14 infected by 33 Ityogonimus spp.) were analyzed. The highest mean levels of Hg and Pb were found in 34Ityogonimus individuals (20.9 and 12.4 µg g -1 wet weight, respectively). Considering renal 35 and hepatic concentrations in T. occidentalis, bioaccumulation factors of Ityogonimus for Hg 36 were 83.7 and 58.6 respectively, whereas concerning Pb bioaccumulation factors were 38.2 37 and 82.9, respectively. No bioaccumulation was detected in Ityogonimus in the case of Cd. 38 More studies involving digenean parasites of small mammals are needed, especially when 39 biomonitoring environmental toxic element pollution in terrestrial ecosystems. The present 40 results support the above-mentioned model as a suitable biomonitoring system to evaluate 41 environmental Hg and Pb contamination in terrestrial non-urban Iberian habitats. Similar 42 models involving other species (Talpa spp. / Ityogonimus spp.) might be used in a much 43 wider geographical range. 44
The Lusitanian pine vole, Microtus lusitanicus, an endemic fossorial rodent of the Iberian Peninsula, has a burrowing behaviour and prefers to live underground. It feeds on bark and roots causing severe damage to trees. In Asturias (NW Spain), where M. lusitanicus is considered a pest in several orchards, a faunistic-ecological study was carried out to describe the helminth community of this species and the main factors that could influence its helminth component species. For this purpose, our own collection of 710 voles from several orchards of various locations in Asturias was used. Eight helminth species, four cestodes and four nematodes, were found. Statistical non-parametric tests were used to analyse the effects of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on the diversity of the helminth community and species prevalence and abundance. The results show the influence of climate variables, the year and season of capture, as well as host age, on the diversity of the helminth community and the infection parameters of some helminth species, underlining the importance of their life cycles. In addition to shedding light on the helminth community of this rodent in Asturias, the results obtained could be used to improve the biological methods applied to fight the M. lusitanicus pest.
The Ityogonimus lorum-I. ocreatus co-infection is reported for the first time in the Iberian mole Talpa occidentalis in Asturias (NW Spain). Both Ityogonimus species are stenoxenous helminths of insectivores of the genus Talpa and they have often been found parasitizing the Iberian mole and also the European mole T. europaea, but a mixed infection had not been previously reported. The present study also highlights the main differential morphometric characteristics between I. lorum and I. ocreatus such as the body length, the ventral sucker diameter, the ratio between suckers and the distance between suckers.
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